(1877-1945) ^or mang wears C[Lt|au'man of tl]c ^Hibrarg C[F0mmttfEe of tije (3[acuitg of PORCELAIN WORCESTER PORCELAIN, ABOUT 1770. H. 15! IN. ArtGz, PORCELAIN ORIENTAL CONTINENTAL AND BRITISH A BOOK OF HANDY REFERENCE FOR COLLECTORS */ BY f HOBSON, B.A. Assistant in the British Museum. Author of the Catalogues of the Collections of English Porcelain and Pottery in the British Museum, and of the Guide to the same. LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO. LTD. 16, JAMES STREET 1906 BUTLER & TANNER, THE SEI.WOOD PRINTING WORKS, FROME, AND LONDON. Preface IF any one doubts that the fascination of old china is as powerful to-day as ever, a glance at the list of recent publications on the subject will suffice to dispel the illusion. It might even be hinted that in such a wealth of ceramic literature another book on porcelain was superfluous. Most of the latest works, however, deal only with limited portions of the whole subject, and almost all of them are issued at prices which, to a large section of the collecting public, are uncomfortably high. The object of the present book is to give in compact and inexpensive form all the facts which the collector really needs, besides as many practical hints as can be compressed in a general work of portable size. The title Porcelain is a compre- hensive one ; and though the following pages treat of the porcelains of all countries, they embrace only those periods which the collector specially affects, to the exclusion of modern European wares. Special atten- tion is given throughout to paste, glaze and decoration as the safest guides to the acquisition of genuine speci- mens, marks being regarded as of secondary importance. Fairly complete lists, however, of the continental and English marks are included, as well as characteristic examples of the Chinese and Japanese. In the illus- PREFACE trations typical pieces rather than those of unusual splendour have been chosen ; and unfortunately some of the most beautiful specimens, such as the Chinese wares with brilliant "single-colour" glazes, had to be excluded, because without coloured repro- duction no impression of their qualities can be con- veyed. It need hardly be added that in a small book of such wide compass controversial points have been either as lightly touched as possible or entirely es- chewed, and constant reference to authorities for state- ments of fact has been avoided. It will be all the more necessary for the author to acknowledge at once his indebtedness to the following sources of information : — Oriental Ceramic Art, by Dr. S. W. Bushell. Catalogue of a Collection of Oriental Porcelain and Pottery (now in the British Museum), by Augustus W. Franks, F.R.S., F.S.A. A History and Description of Chinese Porcelain, by Cosmo Monkhouse. Japan : its History, Arts and Literature (vol. viii.), by Capt. F. Brinkley. Japanese Pottery, edited by Augustus W. Franks, F.R.S., F.S.A. (South Kensington Art Handbook). Catalogue of a Collection of Continental Porcelain (in the Bethnal Green Museum), by Sir A. W. Franks, K.C.B., F.R.S., etc. Fuhrer durch das Hamburgische Museum fur Kunst und Oewerbe, by Justus Brinckmann. A History and Description of French Porcelain, by E. S. Auscher. French Pottery, by P. Gasnault and E. Gamier (South Ken- sington Art Handbook). English Porcelain, by Prof. A. H. Church (South Kensington Art Handbook). A History and Description of English Porcelain, by W. Burton, F.C.S. vi PREFACE Besides the ordinary abbreviations the following have been used : — B.M. = British Museum. V. and A.M. = Victoria and Albert Museum. B.G.M. = Bethnal Green Museum. My best thanks are due to Mr. C. H. Read, Sec. S.A., Keeper of the Department of British Antiquities, etc., in the British Museum, under whom I have the pleasure of working, and to Mr. W. Burton, for reading through proofs of this book and making valu- able suggestions : also to the former for permission to photograph a number of objects in the Franks' Collec- tion at Bethnal Green and in the British Museum, and for the loan of blocks of the greater number of the Oriental and Continental marks : to the Board of Education for permission to reproduce the marks and monograms on pages 160-164, as well as the objects on plates 30 and 31 : and to the late Mr. W. Salting for permission to photograph the charming Meissen statuette shewn on plate 22. R. L. HOBSON. WlDECOMBE, WATFORD, January 27, 1906. vu Table of Contents PAGES CHAPTER I INVENTION OF PORCELAIN — HARD AND SOFT PASTE — QUALITIES OF CHINESE PORCELAIN — METHODS OF DECORATION — FACTORIES IN CHINA — CHINESE DATES ...... 1-13 CHAPTER II EARLY WARES — T'ANG DYNASTY — SUNG DYNASTY : TING YAO : CELADON : CHUN-CHOU PORCE- LAIN — YUAN DYNASTY — MING DYNASTY : VARIOUS MING EMPERORS : CHARACTER OF MING PORCELAIN ..... 14-23 CHAPTER III K'ANG-HSI PERIOD — LANG YAO — " PEACH BLOOM " — Famille verte — BLUE AND WHITE — " SOFT- PASTE " — LETTERS OF PISRE D'ENTRECOLLES . 24-33 CHAPTER IV YUNG-CH^NG PERIOD — NIEN YAO — REPRODUC- TIONS OF CHUN-CHOU WARES — Famille rose — CH'IEN-LUNG PERIOD — Flambes GLAZES — EGG-SHELL PORCELAIN — " RICE-GRAIN " DECORATION — Ku YUEH HSUAN — MODERN PERIOD — " PEKING " BOWLS 34-43 CHAPTER V FORM AND ORNAMENT — BRONZE FORMS — VASE ix TABLE OF CONTENTS SHAPES — DUTCH IMPORTATIONS — INFLUENCES OF BUDDHISM, CONFUCIANISM AND TAOISM — DRAGONS, PHCENIXES, LIONS, KYLINS, ETC. — FIGURE SUBJECTS — LANDSCAPES — SYMBOLS AND EMBLEMS — INSCRIPTIONS PAGES 44-59 CHAPTER VI EXPORT WARES — ARAB, PORTUGUESE AND DUTCH TRADERS AT CANTON — PERSIAN AND INDIAN MARKETS — JESUIT CHINA — SO-CALLED LOWES- TOFT PORCELAIN — NAN-KING AND CANTON WARES — " KLOBBERED " PORCELAIN — IMITA- TATIONS FUCHIEN PORCELAIN 60-64 CHAPTER VII CHINESE DATE-MARKS — SEAL-MARKS — CYCLICAL DATES — Nien hao — POTTER'S MARKS — HALL- MARKS— SYMBOLS 65-72 CHAPTER VIII JAPANESE PORCELAIN — TEA CLUBS — MATERIALS — TECHNIQUE — FORM AND ORNAMENT — BADGES AND MARKS 73-81 CHAPTER IX HIZEN WARES — GORODAYU GO-SHONZUI — COREAN POTTERS — ARITA PORCELAIN — DUTCH AT NA- GASAKI— Imari-yaki — EGG-SHELL PORCELAIN — KAMEYAMA — NABESHIMA PORCELAIN — HIRADO 82-93 CHAPTER X KIOTO WARES — ZENGORO HOZEN AND OTHER POTTERS 94-98 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XI KAGA WARES — Ao-kutani AND Ko-kutani — RE- VIVALS— Hachiroe WARE — MODERN Kutani- yaki — SETO AND MINO PORCELAIN — SANDA WARE — TOKIO — GENERAL REMARKS — MODERN JAPANESE PORCELAIN — COREAN WARES — SIAM- ESE, INDIAN AND PERSIAN PORCELAIN . PAGES 99-111 CHAPTER XII EUROPEAN PORCELAIN — INTRODUCTION — THE DRESDEN COLLECTION — EARLY ATTEMPTS — LATER DEVELOPMENT AND GENERAL CHAR- ACTER OP EUROPEAN PORCELAINS . . . 112-116 CHAPTER XIII MEISSEN PORCELAIN — BOTTGER'S DISCOVERY — HEROLD PERIOD — KANDLER'S INFLUENCE — FORM AND ORNAMENT — FIGURES — DIETRICH AND MARCOLINI. MARKS . 117-127 CHAPTER XIV VIENNA — HOCHST — NYMPHENBURG — LUDWIGSBURG FRANKENTHAL — FURSTENBERG — BERLIN — THURINGIA — CASSEL — FULDA — BAYREUTH — BOHEMIAN AND HUNGARIAN FACTORIES — Chambrelans . 128-141 CHAPTER XV DENMARK — SWEDEN — RUSSIA — SWITZERLAND — HOLLAND — BELGIUM ..... xi 142-147 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XVI PAGES FRENCH PORCELAIN — ROUEN — ST. CLOUD — CHAN- TILLY — MENNECY — VINCENNES AND SEVRES — Pdte tendre — SEVRES HARD -PASTE — IMITATIONS — MAKES — MONOGRAMS AND MARKS OF SEVRES DECORATORS 148-164 CHAPTER XVII TRUE -PORCELAIN IN FRANCE — STRASBURG — NIEDER- WILLER — ORLEANS — MARSEILLES — PARIS AND ELSEWHERE 165-170 CHAPTER XVHI ITALIAN PORCELAIN — FLORENCE — VENICE — DOCCIA — LE NOVE — TREVISO — VINOVO — NAPLES AND CAPO DI MONTE — SPAIN AND PORTUGAL . . 171-177 CHAPTER XIX BRITISH PORCELAIN — EARLY ATTEMPTS — DEVELOP- MENT— DECORATION — FIGURES — PRINTING — MARKS 178-183 CHAPTER XX Bow — THOMAS FRYE — BOWCOCKE'S NOTES — CHAR- ACTERISTICS— MARKS — CHELSEA — HISTORY OF THE WORKS — FOUR PERIODS OF THE WARE — DERBY-CHELSEA — MARKS — DERBY — W. DUES- BURY — CHARACTERISTICS — WORKMEN — MARKS — LONGTON HALL PORCELAIN , . . 184-201 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XXI WORCESTER — HISTORY OF THE WARMSTRY HOUSE WORKS — EARLY WARES — BEST PERIOD — TRANSFER-PRINTING — MARKS — THE CHAMBER- LAINS— T. GRAINGER — CAUGHLEY AND COAL- PORT — PLYMOUTH AND BRISTOL — COOKWORTHY — CHAMPION — EARLY BRISTOL FACTORIES PAGES 202-214 CHAPTER XXII LIVERPOOL — LOWESTOFT — PINXTON — NANTGARW — SWANSEA — MADELEY — STAFFORDSHIRE PORCE- LAIN : NEW HALL : DAVENPORT : MINTON : SPODE : WEDGWOOD — MINOR FACTORIES — SCOTLAND — IRELAND 215-226 CHAPTER XXIII VALUES — REDECORATION AND FORGERIES — PUBLIC COLLECTIONS 227-230 Xlll List of Plates PLATES FACE PAGE 1 Worcester vase (frontispiece, coloured) 2 Chinese celadon dish ...... 3 „ white porcelain : six pieces 4 ,, porcelain, with coloured glazes : three pieces 5 „ crackle : three pieces 6 „ blue and white : Ming dynasty 7 „ „ K'ang-hsi period : three pieces 8 „ „ Ming and K'ang-hsi periods : three pieces 9 „ black " hawthorn " vase 10 „ famille verte : three pieces 11 „ famille rose: Yung-cheng period: three pieces . 12 „ „ Ch'ien-lung period : three pieces .... 13 „ " rice-grain " decoration, Peking bowl, etc. : three pieces ..... 14 „ variegated glazes : three pieces 15 Japanese " Imari " ware: three pieces. 16 „ Hirado and Nabeshima wares : three pieces 17 ,, Imari and Kioto wares : three pieces 18 „ Kaga, Kioto, etc. : six pieces 19 ,, Kaga wares : three pieces 20 „ Seto and Mino wares : three pieces 21 Continental — Meissen porcelain : three pieces 22 „ Meissen statuette .... 23 „ Meissen porcelain : three pieces 24 „ Vienna, Nymphenburg and Hochst wares : three pieces . 25 „ Hochst and Berlin wares : three pieces 26 „ Ludgwigsburg, Copenhagen and Mos- cow wares : three pieces . xv 6 10 18 24 30 34 36 42 50 62 86 92 96 98 104 108 116 120 124 128 134 142 LIST OF PLATES , ; PLATES FACE PAGE 27 Continental — Tournay and Mennecy wares : three pieces ..... 148 28 „ St. Cloud and Chantilly wares : three pieces ..... 150 29 „ Sevres pdte tendre : three pieces . 154 30 „ Sevres vase ..... 156 31 „ Sevres biscuit group . . .158 32 „ Paris hard-paste porcelain : three pieces . ... 168 33 „ Florence, Doccia and Capo di Monte wares : three pieces . . .170 34 „ Venice and Capo di Monte wares : three pieces . . . .174 35 „ Vinovo and Buen Retire wares : three pieces ..... 176 36 English — Bow porcelain : three pieces . . .184 37 „ Bow and Chelsea wares : three pieces . 188 38 „ Chelsea porcelain (Period II.) : three pieces 190 39 „ Chelsea statuettes and vase: three pieces) 40 „ Chelsea porcelain : three pieces . . J 41 „ Derby-Chelsea and Derby wares : four pieces ...... 196 42 „ Derby-Chelsea, Derby and Long ton Hall wares : three pieces . . . 200 43 „ Worcester porcelain : three pieces . . 202 44 „ Early Worcester porcelain : three pieces . j „ * 45 „ Early Worcester porcelain : three pieces . j 46 „ Bristol and Caughley wares : three pieces 210 47 „ Bristol and Swansea wares : three pieces. 214 48 „ Liverpool and Lowestoft wares : three pieces ... . 218 4ft „ Pinxton, Davenport and Rockingham wares : three pieces . . . 224 xvi CHAPTER I Technical and Historical OF the many inventions that arouse our wonder not the least amazing is the discovery, made over a thousand years ago by the Chinese, that the rude stone and clay of the mountain-side could be converted into that white, translucent, gem-like sub- stance which the Western world calls porcelain. It is true that the name has been misapplied to older wares of Greek and Egyptian origin, but these are rarely more than brightly glazed earthenware, and the glory of discovering the true porcelain belongs en- tirely to the Chinese. When and how they first made it, probably will never be known. Indeed, the first of these two questions has been debated long and wearily by Chinese and Western archaeologists with negative results, no proof being established of the existence of porcelain before the T'ang dynasty (618- 907 A.D.), a period which has been fitly called the Augustan age of Chinese art. The answer to the second question is left more or less to our own imagina- tions, and we can only conclude that porcelain was gradually evolved from common earthenware by a process of selection of materials. The manufacture of rude pottery is of immemorial antiquity ; later on, the ware was coated with a glassy covering called glaze ; I B CHINESE POECELAIN next, by dint of higher firing, certain kinds of pottery became partially vitrified and stoneware was the out- come. It is even possible for the last-mentioned to attain a certain degree of translucency in the kiln, and unfortunately the Chinese have applied to their finer stonewares the same word (t'zu) that they use to describe true porcelain. Porcelain, however, is some- thing more than translucent earthenware. Accurately defined, it is earthenware made translucent by the addition of some natural or artificial fluxing material, and it was only when this fluxing material had been discovered by some happy circumstance that porcelain became a possibility. The collector's alphabet begins with the distinction between pottery and porcelain. The next stage is the distinction between true and artificial porcelain, popularly called hard-paste and soft-paste ; and though this section of the present book, dealing as it does with the Oriental varieties, is only concerned with true porcelain, it will be well before going further into the subject to form some idea of the points of difference between these two great classes. In composition the main distinction lies in the nature of the fluxing material. True porcelain consists of two natural felspathic substances, a non-fusible clay (called by the Chinese kaolin) combined with a fusible stone (called petuntse), the latter melting in the kiln to a glassy material which holds the former in suspension and gives the porcelain its translucent and vitreous char- acter. The one is the bones, the other the flesh of the porcelain body. Over this body is a skin of glaze formed of pure petuntse, sometimes softened with a 2 TECHNICAL AND HISTORICAL little lime. This is the nature of true porcelain where- ever made, in China or Dresden, in France or Japan. In the case of artificial, or soft-paste, porcelain, the body is formed of a natural clay suspended in a fluxing material artificially prepared. In the old artificial porcelains this flux was a glass or frit made of sand, lime, flint, bone-ash, soda, etc., the ingredients differ- ing at almost every factory and producing a variety of wares of diverse tone, hardness and translucency. The glaze, too, varied, but as a rule it consisted of a soft and fusible glass largely composed of lead. True porcelain requires an exceedingly high degree of heat, 1,350°-1,450° Centigrade, to fire it, and the glaze needs as much heat as the body ; indeed, in China both body and glaze were almost always baked at one firing. Artificial fritted porcelain, on the other hand, only bears from 1,100°-1,150° Centigrade for the body, and the glaze which is melted at a second firing, only about 1,000°. Obviously these technical distinctions will not assist the collector greatly in the sale-room or the shop, where he must rely on more tangible features. For the practised eye it is scarcely possible to mistake true porcelain for artificial. Take, for instance, a Chinese teacup and another of Chelsea ware . The former is hard and cold to the touch, brilliantly white and glistening, pure and clear if held against the light ; the edge of the foot-rim, which is free from glaze, is of close compact texture, often slightly browned by the firing ; if a piece is chipped the fracture is vitreous and shell-like, and will turn the edge of a knife or even resist a file. Then look at the colours painted on the 3 CHINESE PORCELAIN glaze. They stand out in palpable layers, and are often quite appreciable to the sight ; for the glaze is so hard that the enamels will not combine with it : indeed, they are only too liable to scale and chip away. Now take the Chelsea cup. Here the glaze is lustrous, but soft and oily. The ware has a creamy tint and its translucency is faintly tinged with yellow. The glaze has run down to the foot-rim and has been ground off, exposing a sandy paste only partially vitrified, the fracture of which is granular and yields to a knife. Then pass the finger over the painted surface ; you feel nothing but the glaze. The enamels have sunk in and become incorporated with the soft glossy covering, and, what is more, they have gained a perfect protection and added lustre in the process. There is a third kind of ware which will be discussed in a later chapter, the English bone porcelain of the nineteenth century. It is in the nature of a compro- mise between the true and the artificial porcelain, and has been not unhappily termed natural soft-paste. We can now return to the Oriental, which belongs almost entirely to the first class ; for the apparent exception which the Americans have christened Chinese " soft-paste " porcelain is in reality a true hard-paste body with a soft glaze, and might more accurately be named Chinese " soft-glaze." It is admitted by the best modern potters that the highest compliment that can be paid to their produc- tions is to compare them favourably with the old Chinese ; in this I do not refer so much to the ancient wares of the Sung and Ming dynasties, which are often rough in finish and heavy in form, as to the porcelain 4 TECHNICAL AND HISTORICAL of the finest period which may be said to extend from about 1660 to 1800 A.D., and to which may be re- ferred almost all the choicest specimens in European collections. The unrivalled excellence of this period was due not only to the genius of a few master-potters and the skill of their workmen, but very largely to the extraordinary care expended on the preparation of the materials. Time and labour were of no account, the clays were perfectly levigated and refined and only the best materials were used. The result is that the experienced hand can recognise the porcelain of this time by the paste alone. Pass the finger over the raw foot-rim of a K'ang-hsi blue and white bowl where the paste is free from glaze ; the surface is perfectly smooth and almost unctuous, and no gritty particle arrests the touch. The potting, too, is perfection ; the shape is true to a hair's breadth, and the milky white surface betrays no flaw or blemish. The pure limpid glaze is hardly noticed ; one might say the piece had been lifted " dripping from a bath of clear water." Roughness of paste, imperfect shape, flaws in the glaze and wheel lines on the surface point to a period of manufacture before or after the age of excellence, — generally after. There are, of course, many other tests to be learnt, the style of ornament, the brilliancy of the colours, and sometimes, though very rarely, the marks themselves ; but the safest gauge of all porcelains is the paste, and nothing but handling of the pieces themselves, and careful com- parison, can make the collector master of this. The Chinese methods of decorating their porcelain are legion, and have served as patterns for all countries. CHINESE PORCELAIN When the preliminary stages were over and the care- fully prepared clays had assumed their destined shape upon the potter's wheel or in the mould, the vessel passed into the hands of the decorator. It might at this stage be finished off with the modeller's or the engraver's tool and fired without glaze : it would then appear as biscuit porcelain, a class of ware little affected in China though common enough at the European factories. Again, it might be simply immersed in or sprinkled with a pure white glaze and fired, relying entirely on its unadorned beauty.1 It was, however, more usual to treat it in one or more of the following methods : — Engraving with a sharp steel point. — This is one of the earliest forms of decoration, and was used with consummate skill ; witness the exquisite porcelain of egg-shell thinness with floral designs, dragons, or what not, so delicately incised as to be scarcely visible until held against the light, in the manner of water- marks in paper. Embossing, either effected by pressing on a mould, or by placing on the surface shavings of the clay used for the vessel itself and working them into shape with a wet brush. — This decoration is the forerunner of the pate sur pate which has found its best expression in our own time in M. Solon's work at Minton's. Both 1 Sprinkled glazes are sometimes said to be souffle, i.e. blown on through gauze attached to the end of a tube. Roughness or slight corrugation of the glazed surface, origi- nally a defect in the manufacture, was afterwards deliberately effected : such surfaces are known as " chicken skin," "orange peel," etc., and are admired for the additional play of light which they give to the ware (see plate 12, fig. 3). 6 PLATE 2. CHINESE. CELADON DISH: i3'm CENTURY. D. 13^ IN. (B.M.) 11 c/3 ii < t^ < •• K P TECHNICAL AND HISTORICAL these methods, engraving and embossing, are used in company with others that follow. Piercing a jour, where the paste is cut clean away and the design left like fret-work, as on fig. 4 of plate 3. — The utmost lightness and elegance were obtained by these means, which are displayed with good effect where the vessel so treated has a pierced outer shell protecting an inner cup with surface entire. Or again, the pattern was cut away and the glaze allowed to fill up the perforations, converting the design when fired into a transparency (see plate 13). This is the nature of the rice grain decoration (so called because of the shape of the perforations), which is also seen on the Gombroon bowls of Persian make. It may be noted here that in the processes as yet described the ornament is applied to the raw body before glazing, and as it was the Chinese custom to fire the body and glaze together at one operation, the utmost skill was needed in handling the still soft material during the process of ornamentation. Glazing with Coloured Glazes. — This embraces an immense variety of wares and includes some of the most conspicuous triumphs of Chinese art. The colouring matter is applied in the form of metallic oxides which are mixed with the glaze and developed in the furnace : such are the blues from cobalt, purples from manganese, yellows from antimony, celadon greens and browns from iron, greens, reds and tur- quoise from copper, in endless varieties. The protean effects of the various copper oxides are the most astonishing. They pass through an inconceivable num- ber of changes according to the varying heat of the 7 CHINESE PORCELAIN fire and the oxidising or reducing atmospheres intro- duced into the kiln. To them we owe most of the wonderful splashed and variegated glazes which we call ftarribes and the Chinese Yao pien (furnace trans- mutation), at first the result of accident but afterwards capable of control. Crackling, applied alike to white and coloured glazes. — This too was, no doubt, the result of accident at first, but the skill of Chinese potters learned to control the crackle with perfect certainty, an achieve- ment which has been the despair of European potters. It is done (this is one way, at any rate) by mixing a little steatite (hoachi) with the glazing material, which in this way acquires a different expansion to the body, and so splits up in the furnace into a net-work of cracks or tiny fissures all over the surface. When the cracks are wide apart, the surface is likened by the Chinese to cracked ice, or masses of crabs' claws ; and when they are close together, the crackle is compared to fish-roe in China and called truite in France, from its likeness to the scales of a trout. Coloured inks are sometimes rubbed into the cracks producing a beauti- ful net-work of coloured veins in the glaze. Some glazes, like the turquoise, are naturally crackled, but the Chinese can produce the cracks, large or small, at will, and can make bands of them in different sizes on the same piece. Three examples of coloured crackle are shown in plate 5. Painting in slip, in which the designs are boldly traced in liquid clay, usually in white on a brown, dark blue or lavender ground. Painting in Blue under the Glaze. — This is at once 8 TECHNICAL AND HISTORICAL the most common form of ornament and the oldest method by which actual painted designs were applied to porcelain. Its exact age is disputed, and though it has been claimed for the Yuan dynasty (1280-1367), there is little to show its existence before the Ming dynasty (1367-1643). Porcelain so decorated is known as " blue and white," and will be discussed more fully in another place (p. 29). Painting in other Colours under the Glaze. — The number of colours that will stand the full heat of the furnace, and so can be used on the raw body before glazing, is limited. They are sometimes called cou- leurs de grand feu, and include blue from cobalt, red from copper, celadon green and brown from iron. A combination of all or several of these colours is char- acteristic of one class of porcelain, the most usual being the red, which varies from a brilliant ruby to maroon, combined with blue ; and the blue, or blue and red, with bands of a pale brown or buff, called Nanking yellow. Painting with Coloured Glazes, either on the raw body or on the biscuit. — This method is distinct from, and earlier than, the painting with enamel colours on the glaze. The ware was not strictly painted, but rather divided into compartments, sometimes by a pattern with raised outlines and sometimes with en- graved or chiseled and even pierced designs, which were filled with coloured glazes (see plate 4). The colours used were turquoise blue from copper, purple from manganese, and yellow from iron containing antimony, the original san ts'ai or three colours : these were mixed with a glaze more fusible than the 9 CHINESE PORCELAIN ordinary porcelain glaze and fired in the more tem- perate parts of the kiln ; for the latter reason they are sometimes called couleurs de demi grand feu. Painting with Enamel Colours over the Glaze. — This is the most familiar method of colour-decoration, and the range of colours is immense. It probably dates from the middle of the sixteenth century, and at first was almost confined to the three colours (san ts'ai), and the five colours (wu ts'ai) of the old famille verte porcelains. The three colours of the famille verte are a brilliant green of camellia-leaf tint, often shaded in various tones and laid on in thick patches, the manganese purple which varies from purplish brown to brownish purple, and the buff yellow of the old san ts'ai. The green was often pencilled with black. The addition of blue — at first under the glaze as in the " blue and white ", and afterwards in a brilliant over-glaze enamel — and of iron red complete the five colours. These colours in the bold designs of the late Ming and K'ang-hsi porcelains are unsurpassed for brilliancy and decorative effect (plate 10). In the early part of the eighteenth century the palette of the enamel painter was greatly enlarged. Rose reds and carmines of many shades, derived from gold (the purple of Cassius), began to predominate, and the porcelain of this class is called famille rose. But more will be said of this important class of decoration in another place. It is now time to say a few words about the factories at which the porcelain was made. The famous wares of the ancient dynasties, the T'ang and Sung, were made at a number of factories in various parts of 10 - 00 ,_} O r- * I P O S* O si w a II ^ O i3 I- " """ £Q Is IP ^ S TECHNICAL AND HISTORICAL China. These porcelains are exceedingly rare, and the Chinese, who are confirmed antiquaries, will pay fabulous prices for genuine specimens ; so that they can scarcely be found out of China, and little need be said of them here, especially as they will be briefly touched on in the next chapter. When the Sung emperors were driven south by the Mongols, and finally extirpated at the commencement of the Yuan dynasty in 1280 A.D., the northern potteries were gradually abandoned and the art was concentrated at Ching-te-chen, in the province of Kiang-si, where the imperial factory was established. This famous factory was founded by the Emperor Chen Tsung in the period Ching-te (1004- 1007 A.D.), from which its name was taken. It has since then become the greatest ceramic centre in the world, and nearly all the fine Chinese porcelain known in Europe has come from its kilns. At the beginning of the eighteenth century it contained three thousand kilns and harboured a million souls. The Jesuit missionary, Pere d'Entrecolles, whose invaluable letters give a description of the life and work in this busy town at the period just mentioned, describes its appearance at night as that of a burning city, a de- scription which, no doubt, inspired Longfellow in his Keramos to write : — " And bird-like poise on balanced wing Above the town of King-te-Ching, A burning town, or seeming so — Three thousand furnaces that glow Incessantly, and fill the air With smoke uprising, gyre on gyre, And painted by the lurid glare Of jets and flashes of red fire." II CHINESE PORCELAIN The only other porcelain factory that has retained its reputation is that of Te-hua, in the province of Fuchien, which still supplies a beautiful ivory-white ware, so well known in the form of statuettes of the goddess Kuan Yin, (which have often been mistaken for those of the Virgin,) and other figures of deities, heroes, and fabulous animals. The potteries of Kuangtung (Canton) supply a kind of stoneware with brilliant mottled, splashed and speckled glazes of red, grey, green and purple tones, which are sometimes classed as porcelain, though strictly they are not of that nature. This ware is called namako by the Japanese (from its resemblance to the sea snail), and old specimens are much prized and were thought worthy of imitation by the Ching-te-chen potters. There are, of course, private factories scattered about China which supply ware for local use ; occasional pieces of their manu- facture find their way to Europe, and, because they are rough and coarse in make, are sometimes taken for ancient wares. But to the Western collector Ching-te-chen is practically the one and only source of Chinese porcelain. TECHNICAL AND HISTORICAL TABLE OF IMPOETANT CHINESE DATES. Dynasties. Sui 589- 617 A.D. Ming . 1367-1643 A.D T'ang . 618- 907 „ Ch'ing . . 1644 (present Sung . 960-1279 „ day). Yuan . 1280-1367 „ Ming Emperors. Hung-wu . 1368-1398 A.D. Yung-lo . 1403-1424 „ Hsiian-te . 1426-1435 „ Ch'eng-hua 1465-1487 „ Hung-chih . 1488-1505 „ T'ien-ch'i Cheng-te . 1506-1521 A.D. Chia-ching . 1522-1566 „ Lung-ch'ing 1567-1572 „ Wan-li . . 1573-1619 „ 1621-1627 Cfting Emperors. Shun-chih . 1644-1661 A.D. Tao-kuang 1821-1850 A.D K'ang-hsi . 1662-1722 „ Hsien-feng 1851-1861 „ Yung-cheng 1723-1735 „ T'ung-chih . 1862-1874 „ Ch'ien-lung 1736-1795 „ Kuang-hsii 1875- Chia-ch'ing 1796-1820 „ CHAPTER II Early Wares THE history of Chinese porcelain has been con- veniently divided into five periods : (1) the primitive, (2) Ming, (3) K'ang-hsi, (4) Ch'ien-lung, which includes the preceding reign of Yung-cheng, and (5) modern. The primitive period embraces all the wares made before the Ming dynasty which began in 1368 A.D., and it might be very speedily dismissed in a work of such narrow limits as this, if we were only concerned with actual specimens of the period. With very few exceptions the porcelains of this time are only known outside China by written descriptions, and even within the Celestial Empire they are excessively rare. But the Chinese are inveterate imitators, and it is necessary to briefly mention some of the antique types if only to lead to a better understanding of the modern copies. During the T'ang dynasty (618-907 A.D.) porcelain was first ordered by Imperial decree for the use of the court. This ware was described as " imitation jade," while another kind is spoken of as blue and two others as white. We read that the " white teacups of Hsing- chou porcelain are prized throughout the Empire," 14 EARLY WARES while the poet Tu (803-852 A.D.) wrote, " The porcelain of the Ta-yi kilns is light and yet strong. It rings with a low jade note and is famed throughout the city. Your Excellency's white bowls surpass hoar-frost and snow. Be gracious to me and send some to my poor mat-shed." In the reign of Shih Tsung (954-959) the porcelain of the province of Honan is described as " blue as the sky, as clear as a mirror, as thin as paper and as resonant as jade." This was the famous ctfai yao, described as " blue as the sky after rain when seen between the clouds " : it was the prototype of many lovely blue glazes, ranging from deep sky-blue to the palest clair de lune. The Sung dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) produced more numerous types, of which the most celebrated were : — The porcelain of Ju-chou, in the province of Honan, which imitated the old ch'ai yao in colour. The glaze was either plain or crackled, and so thick as to be compared with " melted lard " in consistency. The porcelain made at Pien chou in the early part of the twelfth century and afterwards at Hang-chou was much prized and received the name kuan yao (imperial porcelain), which has since been used as a general term for imperial porcelain of various kinds. The original kuan yao was generally crackled and the glazes were pale-blue, emerald-green, and grey in colour ; the paste was of reddish brown tint and showed through at the edges where the glaze was thin, and on the foot-rim, from which peculiarity the ware was said to have iron-coloured feet and brown mouths. This is the original of the large class of stone-coloured 15 CHINESE PORCELAIN crackle ware, mostly of eighteenth century date, but in these later imitations the iron feet have been obtained by artificial colouring. Ting chou, province of Chihli, was famed for a white ware of two kinds, (1) the finer quality described as white as flour (fen ting), and (2) a coarser yellowish ware called tfu ting (earth-coloured). The pottery was moved south after 1127, and the ware was then called nan ting (Southern Ting). It seems to have chiefly consisted of bowls and dishes with bold floral designs, engraved or impressed ; the ware has a dull white glaze, often crackled, and the genuine specimens are said to be distinguished by tears or spots where the glaze has run thick. It was successfully imitated by P'eng Chun Pao in the Yuan dynasty, and by Chou tan Ch'uan in the sixteenth century. The latter worked at Ching-te-chen, and reproductions of Ting yao are still made there (plate 3, fig. 1). These repro- ductions, with a decoration in under-glaze blue, form the " soft-paste " of the American collectors. But the most familiar class of the Sung wares is that first made at Lung-ch'iian-hsien, in the prefecture of Ch'u-chou-fu, province of Chekiang. This was the green porcelain (ch'ing tz'u) which we call Celadon, a stout ware with remarkably thick glaze which varies in tone " from bright grass-green, through lighter shades to the palest sea-green." It is usually orna- mented with fluting and ribbing on the sides and with engraved or modelled designs, floral or otherwise, under the glaze. The glaze is either plain or crackled ; in the former case it is called Lung-ch'uan-yao, and in the latter ko-yao (the elder-brother ware), the Chinese 16 EARLY WARES story being that these two kinds were made by two brothers Chang in the twelfth century. The Sung celadon is distinguished by a decided grass-green tint, but the ware has been reproduced at all periods, and the Ming pieces are usually recognisable by a bare ring of red-brown colour under the base where a circular support has kept them in position in the kiln. The paste of the genuine old pieces assumed a reddish hue wherever it came into direct contact with the fire, but as in the kuan yao this feature has been artificially imitated in modern copies. The term celadon is derived from the name of the hero in Honore d'Urfe's novel, L'Astree, who appeared on the stage dressed in clothes of a bluish sea-green colour ; but the meaning of the word has been extended by con- tinental writers so as to include the whole class of porcelain glazed with single colours. The old celadons are greatly prized by the Japanese who call them Seiji ; they were largely exported in the earliest times, and specimens are found in Persia and Egypt, and even as far south as Zanzibar and Mombasa. They were credited in the Middle Ages with the power of detecting poison and were renowned among the Arabs and Persians, who called them Martabdni, from Martaban, the modern Moulmein, their supposed place of export. Many examples have survived to this day, owing, no doubt, to their great strength and durability ; an early piece is figured in plate 2. Of the other Sung porcelains the best known were those made at Chiin-chou, province of Honan. They had a coarse reddish body, but very brilliant glazes, including vermilion red, bright onion-green, the purple of the 17 c CHINESE PORCELAIN night-shade berry (aubergine), clair de lune with purple patches, and flambes ranging from " flashing red through every shade of purple to pale blue." The pieces were often marked underneath with numerals. The Chiin-chou wares were imitated in the reign of Yung-cheng (1723-35), and among the specimens sent by the Emperor to be copied at Ching-te-chen were (1) rose crimson, (2) pyrus-japonica pink, (3) aubergine purple, (4) plum-coloured blue, (5) " mules' liver and horses' lung " (a brilliant flambe glaze, boldly splashed with red, yellow, purple and blue, as in fig. 1 of plate 14), (6) dark purple, (7) rice-coloured, (8) sky blue, (9) and " furnace- transmutation " (flambe). These imitations are distinguished by the fine quality of the porcelain and their superior technique. The emperors of the Sung dynasty were driven south and finally extirpated by the victorious Mongols, and the Yuan dynasty (1280-1367 A.D.) began under the auspices of Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, who made his capital in Khan-balik or Cam- balu (city of the Khan), the modern Peking. The rapacity of the Tartar governors appointed in this period proved disastrous to the ceramic industry, and many of the old factories were extinguished. The art was now focussed in Ching-te-chen, which began to assume great importance : a superintendent was appointed and the imperial potteries systematically organized, and from this time Ching-te-chen became the ceramic centre of China, sending large and ever in- creasing supplies of porcelain by ship to the imperial court. Examples of Yuan porcelains are extremely rare, 18 PLATE G. CHINESE "BLUE AND WHITE." (B.M.) COVERED JAR: CHENG TE PERIOD (1506-1521). II. IN. MING WA&ES and such as are known consist chiefly of white with engraved ornament, celadon, pale lavender and clair de lune, the last mentioned sometimes flecked with fortuitous patches of red colouring. It is recorded that ewers and pots with spouts, for wine and tea, were among the novelties of the time, as were also the tall upright tea-cups and wine-cups on stems. The native Ming dynasty (1367-1640 A.D.) in- augurated a period of great progress at Ching-te-chen, and our information about the porcelain of this time is more precise, though actual specimens, of the earlier part, at any rate, are still of the utmost rarity. The reign of Yung-lo (1403-1424) was famed for a beautiful white eggshell porcelain, so thin as to merit the epithet " bodiless," and usually engraved, or painted in white slip, with delicate designs which show against the light like water-marks in paper. Gilt scroll-work on a lustrous iron-red ground was another feature of the porcelain of this time.1 The era of " blue and white " (i.e. porcelain painted with blue under the glaze) had now begun, and though not so noted as the blue and white of the succeeding reigns, that of Yung-lo acquired some distinction. Intercourse with Persia and Western Asia had existed for many years, and in the reign of Hsiian-te (1426-1435) a particularly fine blue pigment, known as Mohammedan blue, was imported from the west. It is usually described as of pale tone, but actual specimens belonging to this reign are practically unknown out of China. Its re- 1 Two bowls of this class in the British Museum bear the Yungo-lo mark. This style of decoration was adopted by Eiraku in Japan (see p. 96). 19 CHINESE PORCELAIN putation, however, was so great that it has been the custom ever since to put the mark of the reign of Hsiian-te on blue and white porcelain of all kinds and all periods. Another colour of this period was no less celebrated, the chi-hung or sacrificial red, so called from its use on the sacrificial vessels of the temple of the Sun. It was a brilliant under-glaze colour of ruby tint, so pure and sparkling as to give rise to the belief that it was obtained from powdered rubies ; but this idea implies a chemical impossibility, and the colour is in reality one of the many beautiful effects of copper oxide used as a colouring agent. The reign of Ch'eng-hua (1465-1487) was equally famous for its porcelain. The blue and white, it is true, was not so highly prized, for the supplies of imported blue had failed, and the native cobalt was used in preparing the colour. But a great advance in coloured decora- tion was made, and though it is doubted that actual painting in colours was as yet in practise, there is no question that pictorial designs in coloured glazes were used with great effect at this time. It is to this period that the celebrated " chicken wine-cups " belong. They were dainty little cups of eggshell thinness decorated " with Moutan peonies and with a hen and chicken under flowers, instinct with life and movement." A yellow colour likened to the " tint of a boiled chestnut " distinguished the porcelain of the succeeding Emperor Hung-chih who reigned from 1488-1505. Under his successor, Cheng-te (1506- 1521), fresh supplies of Mohammedan blue were im- ported by the Viceroy of Yunnan, and a renaissance of the blue and white began (plate 6). The blue is 20 MING WARES darker than that of Hsiian-te, as will be seen from a few examples bearing Arabic inscriptions, which may be studied in the British Museum. Yellow was again prominent, a favourite decoration of the period being a five-clawed imperial dragon with details engraved in the paste and filled in with green in the midst of cloud scrolls and imbricated waves, sometimes in a yellow ground. The long reign of Chia-ching (1522- 1566) was noted for its blue and white (from the Mohammedan pigment), of dark tone, but very brilliant. Turquoise blue, dark and sky blue, yellow, brown and red embellish the porcelain of this time, either as monochromes or as coloured grounds for the blue decoration. The old " sacrificial " red was now re- placed by an over-glaze coral red obtained from oxide of iron, the former being excessively difficult to manu- facture. During the concluding reigns, of which those of Lung-ch'ing (1567-1572) and Wan-li (1573- 1619) alone are important, the Mohammedan blue again failed, but an effective substitute for blue and white was found in the enamel colours then coming into general use. This period is marked by the first appearance of the famille verte porcelain, so called from the predominance of a brilliant green enamel. The ware was painted in enamels over the glaze, the colour schemes consisting of green, manganese purple, and yellow, the san ts'ai or three-colour decoration, and the Wan-li wu ts'ai (five-colour decoration of Wan-li), which embraced the three colours with the addition of red and the under-glaze blue of the old blue and white. An immense quantity of porcelain was made under Wan-li and a considerable amount has survived 21 CHINESE PORCELAIN (plate 10, fig. 1). A large export trade to India, Ceylon and Persia was now in full swing, and most of the genuine Ming specimens in modern collections are traceable to this time. Earlier pieces of Ming porce- lain are occasionally found in Europe, but they are rare and almost entirely confined to the blue and white of the Cheng- te and Chia-ching periods. To briefly summarise the characteristics of Ming porcelain, the colours that one would expect to find are white, blues in various shades, celadon green, lustrous browns, brilliant red and flambes of the grand feu : turquoise, manganese purple, and pale yellow of the demi-grand feu, these colours being on the biscuit, and finely crackled : lustrous green,1 coral red, brownish purple, pale yellow, dull black and gilding of the petit feu, these colours being painted on the glazed porcelain and afterwards fired at a low temperature in the muffle kiln. The blue painting is always under the glaze ; the designs are usually first outlined in dark blue and afterwards filled in with flat washes of a paler tone : compared with that of the K'ang-hsi period the painting is stiff and formal, and the merit of the ware depends on the quality of the blue pigment employed. Besides actual painting with the brush, a great deal of the decoration of the period was effected by engraving in the paste, open-work carving, and modelling in low relief, the engraved and 1 The enamel greens of the Ming porcelain differ slightly from those of the next dynasty, but the nuances can only be learnt by comparison of the pieces themselves. There is, however, a distinctive bluish green which seems to be con- fined to the early painted Ming wares. 22 MING WARES carved ornaments being frequently coloured with the glazes of the demi-grand feu, as opposed to painting proper. The forms of the vases, etc., compared with those of the fine period that followed, are heavy and clumsy, and the ware is thicker and less cleverly potted.1 There are, of course, exceptions to this, such as the white eggshell bowls of the Yung-lo and Hsiian-te periods, and towards the end of the dynasty a potter who took the sobriquet of Hao Shih-chiu (the Hermit hidden in the teapot), was celebrated for his tiny wine-cups coated with " liquid dawn " glaze with its " undulations of the brightest vermilion," and for eggshell cups fit to " float down stream." He was also noted for brown teapots of the shade known as " dead leaf." 1 It has been frequently noticed that the bases of Ming pieces are marked with faint radiating lines in the paste be- neath the glaze, and that the foot-rims are often slightly browned, and roughened by particles of the sand on which thev rested in the kiln. CHAPTER III K'ang-hsi Period THE unsettled times that ushered in the present Manchu dynasty were not favourable to the ceramic industry, and the productions of the first reign, that of Shun-chih, are scarcely worthy of men- tion. But his successor, K'ang-hsi, reigned for more than a complete cycle of sixty years, from 1662-1722, and during this period Chinese porcelain attained its greatest brilliancy. It is to this reign and those of the two succeeding emperors that practically all the finest pieces in Western collections may be referred. The splendid successes of this period of perfection are to be attributed to the fortunate selection of four brilliant men to superintend the imperial factories. The first of these was Lang T'ing-tso, Governor of the province of Kiangsi in 1654 and Viceroy from 1656-61, and again from 1665-68. He was the inventor of the famous Lang yao, perhaps the greatest of all achieve- ments in single-colour porcelains. This ware includes two colours, a brilliant red and an apple green. The better known is the former, which " varies from in- tense blood red through intermediate shades of paler hue to almost pink : again it darkens to dull maroon 24 K'ANG-HSI or liver-coloured tint." It is usually known as sang de boeuf or ox-blood red, and was produced from oxide of copper, no doubt in an attempt to recover the old " sacrificial red " of the reign of Hsiian-te. Since the time of Lang T'ing-tso constant attempts have been made to reproduce it, but though its brilliant hues have been almost equalled, there are peculiarities in the original Lang yao that defy imitation. The potting of the pieces is perfect, and from the lip of the vase, which is marked by a mathematically even line of white, the rich fluescent glaze runs down in broken tints, developing a full ruby red below the shoulders and ending in a regular line round the base : the glaze is crackled all over and the colour has a stippled appearance due to its being blown through gauze on to the surface ; the foot underneath is either glazed with plain white, or with apple green or rice-coloured crackles. Subsequent imitators have never succeeded in controlling the flow of the glaze, and it has con- gealed in drops below the base line which have to be afterwards ground away. The apple-green Lang yao is even rarer than the sang de boeuf, but has the same characteristics of manufacture. The objects selected for the Lang yao glazes seem to have been chiefly vases, censers, boxes, bowls and snuff-bottles. The progress of the porcelain manufacture was in- terrupted between 1674^78 by the rebellion of Wu San-kuei which involved the destruction of the im- perial factory at Ching-te-chen ; it was, however, re- built when peace had been restored, and a new era of ceramic energy began. In 1683 the factories were again under the superintendence of a man of genius, 25 CHINESE PORCELAIN Ts'ang Ying-hsiian, whose skill came to be regarded as something supernatural. The most beautiful of the Ts'ang yao, as his porcelain is called, are the pieces with glazes of " snake skin " (an exquisite green of iridescent hues), eel-skin yellow of brownish shade, turquoise blue and variegated yellow. Another glaze of this reign, which is scarcely less sought after than the sang de boeuf, is the " peach bloom " or crushed strawberry. This is also a colour obtained by oxide of copper, and apparently resulted from another attempt to make the old " sacrificial " red. The exact tint of this rare and coveted glaze has been thus de- scribed by Dr. Bushell : " The prevailing shade is a pale red, becoming pink in parts, in others mottled with russet spots, displayed on a background of light- green celadon tint." The Chinese variously call it " apple red " or " haricot red," the latter name sug- gesting the colour of the Chinese kidney bean. A tiny specimen of this glaze has realised as much as 4,000 dollars in America. But the list of successful single- colours that distinguish this brilliant period is a long one ; it includes the clair de lune of palest blue : brilliant blues of darker shades, of which perhaps the finest is the mazarin blue, a deep grey blue of lapis lazuli tone, blown on to the ware through gauze and having a powdered appearance (plate 10, fig. 3). This last was used either as a single-colour, sometimes pencilled over with delicate gilt designs, or as a ground- colour broken by panels containing enamelled decora- tion ; and it has the peculiarity of retaining its brilli- ance in artificial light. Another is the " mirror black," a lustrous and sometimes iridescent black of 26 K'ANG-HSI wonderful intensity, which is seen either plain or with gilt designs. This colour is distinct from the older dull black. To these should be added lustrous browns of all shades (derived from a ferruginous earth called tzu chin), chocolate, bronze, cafe au lait, dead leaf and old gold. A common form in which these colours appear is as ground-colour with panels of enamelled ornament ; this class of porcelain was largely imported by the Dutch, hence the name " Batavian " under which it appears in old catalogues. Again, turquoise blue, of the shades known as "peacock green" or " kingfisher colour," is seen on vases, figures of grotesque lions, etc. This colour is minutely crackled and was laid on the biscuit ; it seems to have developed conspicuously well on an earthenware body, and some of the finest vases so decorated have a sort of earthen- ware basis and are remarkable for surprising lightness of weight. Manganese purple of the aubergine, (night- shade) violet tint was likewise laid on the biscuit, and is often found in combination with the turquoise glaze. Noted examples of this purple glaze are the peach- shaped wine-pots, which were copied in this country at Rockingham, under the name of Cadogan teapots. Another novelty was the " tiger skin " glaze (hu-p'i) , a piebald effect made up of dabs of yellow, green, purple and white, and believed to be one of the in- ventions of Ts'ang Ying-hsuan. The white glazes include the perfection of pure white, besides copies of the old fen ting, which are either soft creamy white or clouded with pale buff, and usually crackled. The enamels of the three-colour and five-colour classes reached their highest pitch of excellence during 27 CHINESE PORCELAIN this reign. The K'ang-hsi wu ts'ai (K'ang-hsi five- colour decoration) consists of enamel-blue (over the glaze) which distinguishes the porcelain of this reign from that of the Ming period when the blue was under the glaze; brilliant green in two shades laid on in thick patches, iron-red, pale yellow and a manganese colour which varies from purplish brown to brownish purple ; black was also used, especially for outlining the designs. This was the period of the finest famille verte porcelain, the ne plus ultra of enamelled wares. The body and glaze are faultless and the forms irre- proachable, the colours are distinguished by full tints of jewel-like brilliancy, and the designs unite the bold grouping and breadth of treatment of the Ming decoration with the skilful brushwork of a more polished age (see plate 10, figs. 2 and 3). Here must be classed those magnificent covered jars, beakers and vases of large dimensions and varied shapes, ovoid, square, hexagonal, bottle-shaped, club-shaped, etc., painted with court scenes, gorgeous flowers and birds, mythological creatures and a host of other designs in the five and three colours (green predominating), on grounds of white, mazarin blue, transparent green, yellow, coral red or glossy black.1 The last colour is formed of a dull black pigment washed over with lustrous transparent green, and is best known in the famous black hawthorn vases in which the glossy greenish black ground is broken by reserved designs of plum blossom and other flowering shrubs painted 1 The terms famille noire and famille jaune are sometimes applied to the pieces of this class which have black and yellow grounds respectively. 28 K'ANG-HSI in the famille verte enamels (plate 9). Additional embellishments of silver and gilt were sparingly used, and at the end of the reign of K'ang-hsi the appearance of carmine and white enamel heralded the coming of the famille rose. The influence of Japanese art began to be felt at this time and the Imari decorations were closely followed (see p. 85). The K'ang-hsi blue and white, which has been left to the last, forms a class by itself, and a highly im- portant one (plate 7, figs. 1 and 2, and plate 8, fig. 2). To the collector of blue and white the reign of K'ang- hsi is the be-all and end-all. For specimens of the finest Ming periods are virtually unobtainable, and after the reign of K'ang-hsi the blue and white rapidly degenerated. The charm of the K'ang-hsi blue and white consists not merely in the beauty of the paste, the purity of the glaze, the perfect potting and graceful forms, but in the harmony of the faintly tinted white ground with the varied shades of blue painted on it. The blue is not so full and strong as the Ming colour, but it is " graded, palpitating, modulated and never still." The appreciative pen of Mr. C. Monkhouse has described it in words that are well worthy of repeti- tion : " It would take a long time to exhaust the number of changes which the Chinese ring upon the many tints of blue and white — white sometimes white as curds, sometimes greyish, sometimes tinged with the faintest blue, like the film inside a bird's egg. But if the white is varied, what of the blue ? Sometimes brilliant and opaque as lapis lazuli, sometimes pure and trembling as sapphire, now almost black, now wholly grey, sometimes warm as purple, sometimes 29 CHINESE PORCELAIN cold as a wintry sky. Whatever quality is taken, is of course used throughout, but even this allows for great variation in shade ; a dark and light blue are nearly always employed, and three, if not more, distinct tones are often seen on the same piece." The Chinese themselves prefer the silvery grey tint (as in plate 8, fig. 1), but the Western eye favours the fuller and brighter tones. The difference between the first-rate colour and the second best is a fine distinction that can only be made by natural instinct combined with careful training of the eye ; and some collectors actually carry a small specimen of the best quality about with them to habituate themselves to the delicate nuances. The decoration of this ware embraces every kind of motive in which the Chinese excel : flowers, landscape with birds and animals, fish, mythical creatures, mythical and religious personages, ceremonial subjects, battle and hunting scenes, domestic scenes, conventional patterns, symbols and arabesques. Some few distinc- tive patterns are associated with particular shades of blues. Among the most striking examples are the well-known ginger jars (plate 7, fig. 1), with sprays of blossoming prunus — the " hawthorn pattern " — in white on a ground of wonderfully deep and brilliant blue intersected with darker lines resembling the cracks of ice. The design is intended to suggest the prunus blossoms fallen on the ice as it breaks up, and the jars were sent full of sweetmeats or ginger as presents at the New Year which begins in China from three to seven weeks later than in Europe. The jars have been made without intermission to the present day, but those of the K'ang-hsi period are known, not only 30 *S l^s 5 5 £ 7. a r? . U « ^ a a ^ BHH s i: a < > C3 I-13 O ^3 „ 06 O l§ w f^ PLATE 9. CHINESE. (B.M ) VASE WITH FLORAL DESIGNS IN COLOUR GLOSSY BLACK GROUND : K'ANG-HSI PERIOD (1662-1722). H. 27 IN. K'ANG-HSI by the quality of the blue, but also by the finish of the mouth-rim which is unglazed on the outside and only partially glazed within ; a castellated border usually completes the ornament upon the neck. The blue of the later and inferior pieces is marred by a purplish tint. A fine dark blue is also used on certain large vases as a ground for bold sprays of magnolia, which are reserved in white and sometimes slightly modelled in relief. Another class of decoration is borrowed from old bronze designs and consists of closely-painted arabesques in a full dark blue, with ogre eyes and ogre faces (t'ao-tieh) peering through the pattern. The " aster " design is formed of radiating panels of aster-like flowers in a deep indigo blue, some- times verging on black. On the other hand the large dishes and vases with full designs, mostly of figure subjects, are usually painted in paler tones. Another class of blue and white, for which American collectors have been known to give fabulous sums, is the so-called " soft-paste," which has already been mentioned in speaking of the old fen ting. The ware is, in fact, a reproduction of the fen ting, in which, contrary to the usual Chinese custom with blue and white, the body is first fired to the biscuit stage, and the glaze subsequently added. The body itself is of an opaque and earthy appearance, but, in spite of its name, it is exceedingly hard. It is painted with a blue, usually of greyish tint, and the brushwork is ex- tremely fine with miniature-like touches, and has the soft appearance of painting on vellum rather than on porcelain. The glaze, which is fired at a lower tempera- ture, is soft and contains lead, and is usually CHINESE PORCELAIN crackled. The finest pieces are generally small — bowls, small vases, cups and snuff-bottles — and the ware is surprisingly light to handle (plates 7 and 8, fig. 3). In the reign of K'ang-hsi an extensive foreign trade was for the first time developed, and not unfrequently the shapes and decoration of the porcelain were modified to suit Western taste. Large quantities of Chinese porcelain were now imported by the Dutch and other East India companies ; and orders were sent out from Europe and transmitted to Ching- te-chen through the merchants of Canton. We are fortunate in possessing an account by a Euro- pean observer of the potteries of Ching-te-chen at this interesting period. The Jesuit missionary, Pere d'Entrecolles, from his own observations and from notes supplied by his converts in the potteries, wrote an invaluable description of the life and work in the great porcelain town, which has come down to us in the form of two letters dated September, 1712, and December, 1722, respectively. A summary of these letters will be found in all exhaustive works on Chinese, porcelain, and would here involve a reitera- tion of many facts already noted, but a few of his remarks will form a fitting conclusion to this chapter. Among other things he notices that the flambes, or transmutation, glazes were as yet only the result of accidental fire-effects, though he prophesies that at some future date the potters will be able to control them. How soon this prophecy came true will be seen immediately. Incidentally he mentions that the ware we have called " soft-paste " blue and white contained steatite, or soap-stone, among its constituents, 32 K'ANG-HSI and that the same material formed the white slip used in slip-painted decorations. A curious form of decora- tion known as " azure put in press " had already become a lost art ; it consisted of blue ornament, generally fishes, between two layers of thin paste and glaze, which only appeared in full strength when the vessel, so constructed, was filled with liquid. But the exceptional manipulative skill required for this work no longer existed among the potters, and only a distant imitation of this ware was made by deeply engraving the paste and rubbing cobalt blue into the incisions. Pere d'Entrecolles also speaks of the orders given by European merchants, and how some of them had hoped to introduce the manufacture of Chinese porcelain into Europe by importing Chinese material, but that they had only taken the petuntse without the complementary kaolin, earning the ridicule of the Chinese, who said the foreigners expected to make a body of flesh without bones. Another story of his shows that " Ah Sin " was not without guile even in those distant days, for he describes a method by which the new celadon was given the exact appear- ance of the old Lung-chiian ware, first by boiling it in a strong bouillon and then depositing it in a foul drain for a month or more. Finally he tells how some " sixteen or seventeen years ago " the potters had manufactured plates with pictures of the crucifixion of Christ, which had been smuggled into Japan for the Christians of that country, and how the trade had been found out and instantly suppressed. 33 CHAPTER IV Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung HE reign of Yung-cheng (1723-35) is often treated JL as though it were from a ceramic point of view part of the long reign that followed. It is, indeed, a period of transition in which the bold, vigorous style and strong colouring of the K'ang-hsi porcelain passed into the half tints and broken colours of the more effeminate, though more technically perfect wares of Ch'ien-lung, in short the passing of the famille verte into the famille rose ; but the Yung-cheng porcelain has a character of its own and includes many innovations worthy of separate notice. The factories were now under the direction of the celebrated Nien Hsi-yao, and the Nien yao, as his special productions are called, are particularly distinguished by the beauty of the pale blue (clair-de-lune) and bright souffle red glazes. The Emperor himself was a great patron of the art, and took pains to ransack the empire for examples of the ancient Sung glazes which he sent to Ching-te-chen for Nien Hsi-yao to imitate. A list of these triumphs published between the years 1729-32, includes no less than fifty-seven kinds of porce- lain, and most of the successful copies of the Sung wares which have found their way into modern collections, 34 N 2 VO O "-• G Ig P-, « S5 * s 2 55 N §2 YUNG-CHENG should probably be referred to this period . They are, how- ever, to be distinguished from their ancient prototypes by the fine quality of the porcelain body and their superior finish. Among them is the noted " robin's egg " glaze which is a copy of a Chun-chou production, and is described as having " a greenish blue dappling and flecking on a reddish ground, the green being subordinate to the blue." The variegated glazes of the Canton stoneware (Kuang yao) were also copied on porcelain, and a sapphire blue, called cloisonne blue, from its appearance on cloisonne enamels, was numbered among the single-colours. The enamelled decoration of the petit feu ,or muffle-kiln, was considerably developed, and included not only a revival of the old five-coloured decoration of the reign of Wan-li, but a newly de- veloped scheme of soft tints in which rose-reds and carmines, derived from gold, predominate. The Chinese call this new colour-scheme juan ts'ai (soft colours) distinguishing it from the full tints of the older three and five-coloured decorations which they name ying ts'ai (hard colours). Another name for the soft colours is yang ts'ai, or foreign colouring, because the tints are the same as those used on the enamelled copper vessels, made at this period in Canton and supposed to be derived from India. In Europe the term famille rose covers all this class of porcelain, including the beautiful bowls, saucer- dishes, etc., of thin eggshell ware of the most perfect quality with elaborately pencilled ornament in pale tints of rose, carmine, blue, lemon-yellow, green and black, with the addition of metallic gold and silver. These pieces frequently have'the sides on the reverse 35 CHINESE PORCELAIN coated with a deep carmine of uniform tint (plate 12, fig. 1), and are known from this circumstance as " ruby back " wares. The imperial yellow, the prohibited colour of this time, is of a marked orange tint and is distinct from the lemon-yellow, a foreign colour, which was new in this reign. A beautiful and characteristic design of this period is a single branch of some flowering shrub thrown boldly across the white surface of the piece, and sometimes with a bird perched among the foliage (plate 11). Pencilled designs in a sepia tint (" ink black ") were common at this time, and the novelties of the period included monochrome yellow porcelain enamelled with the " five-colours," and porcelain painted in European style with landscapes and figure scenes, flowering plants, and birds. It is also asserted that three styles of Japanese porcelain were now imitated, so that it may be fairly said that foreign in- fluences had already taken firm root at Ching-te-chen. Ch'ien-lung The succeeding Emperor, Ch'ien-lung, reigned from 1736-95, abdicating after he had completed a cycle of sixty years on the throne, in accordance with his vow that, if allowed to reign so long, he would not outreign his grandfather, K'ang-hsi. In the year 1736 the control of the porcelain factories passed into the hands of T'ang Ying, the last and most skilful of the four great directors. He had already won distinction at Ching-te-chen, where he had worked under Nien Hsi-yao from 1728, and had succeeded in acquiring a 36 K . <-> 2 6 2 li si p i «« £ o CH'IEN-LUNG mastery over the materials and over the fire never equalled before or afterwards. The technical standard of this period is the highest ever reached on porcelain of any description : " the paste of the pieces was white, rich and compact : the fabric, whether thick or thin, was brilliant and lustrous, and the imperial porcelain attained at this period its greatest perfection." Re- productions of every kind were made, both of the old and the recent inventions, and the mastery over furnace-transmutations foretold by Pere d'Entrecolles, and largely achieved in the preceding reign, was now made complete. The old Chiin-chou glazes were copied with exactitude, and the splashed and varie- gated colours, the fine flambes (plate 14, fig. 2), so much admired by modern collectors, were now con- trolled with as much certainty as their nature permits. These beautiful effects, at first discovered by an accident in the firing, are due mainly to the protean changes through which oxide of copper passes at various degrees of heat in an oxidising or a reducing atmosphere. Copper at the first degree of oxidation gives a bright ruby red (the chi-hung of the reign of Hsiian-te) ; with more oxygen it turns to a brilliant green, and at the highest degree of oxidation to a turquoise blue. " In the furnace the various modi- fications are produced suddenly by the manipulation of the fire. In a clear fire with a strong draft all the oxygen is not consumed, and is free to combine with the metal in fusion. If, on the other hand, the fire be loaded with thick smoke, the carbonaceous mass will greedily absorb all the free oxygen and the meta will attain its minimum degree of oxidation. So, 37 CHINESE PORCELAIN when placed in a given moment in these various con- ditions by the rapid and simultaneous introduction of currents of air and sooty vapours, the glaze assumes a most picturesque appearance ; the surface of the piece becomes diapered with veined and streaked colorations, changing and capricious as the flames of spirits ; the red oxide passes through violet and green to the pale blue peroxide, and is even dissipated com- pletely upon certain projections, which become white, and thus furnish another happy fortuitous combina- tion." * This is the scientific method of producing flarribe, which has been thoroughly mastered in recent times both by Continental and English potters ; and Mr. Burton displayed many of its happy effects in his exhibition of Lancastrian pottery in June, 1904. Another way of producing the flambe marking, practised in the reign of Ch'ien-lung, was the super-addition of a transmutation glaze to an already finished piece of grey crackled or brown porcelain. This extra coat of glaze might be added by dipping, painting with a brush, blowing through gauze or flecking on in spots so as to produce varied effects. There are examples of this period on which a thick variegated glaze has been run over a vase with ordi- nary blue and white decoration, giving a result more strange than beautiful. Rejoicing in his perfect control of colour effects the potter now tried all manner of tours de force, imitating natural and manufactured objects of every kind in such a way as to deceive the casual observer ; thus, chiselled gold, embossed silver, carved jade and other 1 Bushell, p. 515. 38 CH'IEN-LUNG hard stones, lacquer, mother of pearl inlaid in wood,1 carved rhinoceros horn, bamboo, wood, shells, shagreen, copper, bronze with patina of various shades, rusted iron, etc., were faithfully rendered. The " iron- rust " (t'ieh-hsiu) glaze, a typical example of the skill of the Ch'ien-lung potters, has been described as having " a deep bronze-coloured ground, speckled with lustrous metallic spots and flecked with red clouds." Another celebrated glaze of this period was the " tea- dust " (ch?a-yeh-mo), formed by blowing a green enamel on to a yellowish brown (tzu-chiri) ground (plate 14, fig. 3). This glaze was so highly prized that a law was enacted reserving it for the emperor ; the restrictions, however, were evaded by collectors simulating cracks on their pieces and even putting in rivets, for nothing but perfect specimens are allowed in the Palace. Even among private collectors in China a cracked piece of porcelain is an abomination, and the greatest pains are taken to conceal any such defect, by painting a floral spray over it, by the use of lacquer and other means. Other single colours successfully applied in the Ch'ien-lung period are : coral red, which was greatly improved ; an intense deep sapphire blue glaze, of finely crackled texture, applied on the biscuit, usually over imperial dragons etched in the paste ; finely crackled green and yellow — the " cucumber green " and " mustard yellow " so highly prized by collectors ; and finely crackled turquoise. 1 This is distinct from the porcelaine"laquee burgautee, which is covered with black lacquer inlaid with elaborate designs in mother of pearl, a ware made as early as the reign of K'ang- hsi. 39 CHINESE PORCELAIN The blue and white of this and the preceding reign is carefully painted, mainly with floral sprays and conventional scrolls, but the pulsating vigour and depth of the blue which distinguished the K'ang-hsi ware have disappeared, and the white, though purer, is apt to be chalky : we miss, too, the slight tinge of blue in the glaze which brought the white and the blue into such perfect harmony. The falling off of the blue and white was perhaps due to the greater attention paid to enamel-painting over the glaze. The range of colours in this class was greatly extended, mainly by judicious blending, for the palette of the Chinese enameller was always a limited one ; but the delicacy of the painting and the purity of the soft tints with which the fine egg-shell porcelain was jewelled have made the Ch'ien-lung famille rose the standard of perfection in enamelled porcelain of all time. If anything, the ware was too perfect, and the miniature-like touches and laboriously diapered de- signs, while unquestionably triumphs of mechanical skill, are often wanting in the broader artistic effects. These qualities are seen in their extremes on the egg- shell saucer-dishes, which have sometimes as many as seven different patterns massed on their borders (plate 12, fig. 2). The border-patterns of the period were almost all borrowed from rich brocades, fre- quently surrounding a central design of figure subjects, a good example being the typical " Mandarin " vases of delicate porcelain with imposing figures on the sides of dignitaries in their official robes panelled in richly enamelled diapers (fig. 3, plate 12). The painting of flowers was a labour of love to the Chinese artist, 40 CH'IEN-LUNG and naturalistic flowers are another feature of the ware of this period, some of the vases of the time resembling great bouquets of massed blossoms, a scheme of decoration known as the " hundred flowers." Another form of floral decoration was the applica- tion of flowers modelled in full relief, as on Meissen porcelain. The " rice-grain " decoration, in which a pattern was cut out of the porcelain and afterwards filled with glaze, has been already described (plate 13, fig. 1). It is thought to have appeared as early as the reign of Hsiian-te (1426-35), but there is no doubt that the most perfect examples of this light and elegant class of ware belong to the Ch'ien-lung period. Slight blue-painted patterns usually accompany it, and some- times the perforation takes the form of an intricate lacework of conventional peonies covering the whole surface and itself covered with a pale celadon-green glaze. Like every other form of porcelain decoration as yet known, open-work ornament was carried to perfection at this time, and it would be hard to find better examples of this work than the charming lanterns with pierced designs and soft famille rose colouring, so characteristic of the reign of Ch'ien-lung. Finally the rarest and most coveted of all the porce- lains of the egg-shell and famille rose group was that made in imitation of the vitreous ware of Ku Yueh Hsiian. This soubriquet, which means " Chamber of the Ancient Moon," was adopted by an artist who in- vented about 1735 a much admired kind of glass, used for making small articles such as winecups and snuff- bottles, and frequently painted in vitreous enamels 41 CHINESE PORCELAIN with the delicacy of a miniature. The Emperor ex- pressed a desire to see this style of decoration displayed on a suitable porcelain body, and T'ang Ying invented a highly vitrifiable glaze on which the full and bril- liant effect of the enamels was realised. A specimen of this peculiar ware in the Hippisley collection is described as follows : " Small bottle-shaped vase coated with lustrous white glaze of vitreous aspect, decorated with delicate enamel colours. On the body a picture representing an autumnal scene — roses growing by a rockery, trees with autumn-tinted leaves, and marguerite daisies ; in the foreground of which a pair of quails, beautifully painted with minia- ture finish, stand out prominently." Another interest- ing feature of this Ku Yueh Hsiian decoration was the introduction of European views and figures. Modern Period The brilliant period that began with the reign of K'ang-hsi and reached its climax in that of Ch'ien-lung was followed by a gradual but sure decline. The porcelain of the first part of the reign of Chia-Ch'ing (1796-1820) continued the traditions of the previous reign, and indeed can scarcely be distinguished from the Ch'ien-lung wares ; but the spirit of progress had gone, no new inventions distinguished the period, and in the natural course of events degeneration set in. This gradual decadence continued through the suc- ceeding reign of Tao-kuang (1821-50), though among the imperial porcelains there were still many objects 42 - ^ "sH u g MODERN of great beauty. Perhaps the most appreciated decorations of this time are designs of white bamboo sprays or some simple flowers reserved in a ground of soft coral red, and the peculiar ornaments of the so- called " Peking bowls." The latter, needless to say, were not made at Peking, but sent there from Ching- te-chen for the imperial household ; they are ordinary rice bowls decorated with enamelled designs in circular or peach-shaped panels on a ground of crimson, pink, French grey, or lemon-yellow : the ground is usually etched all over with fine scrolls, and the ware has been termed " graviata " from this novel form of embellishment.1 In the reign of Hsien-feng (1851-61) the great rebellion of the Tai-pings involved the factories at Ching-te-chen in ruin, and the manufacture practically ceased. It was revived under his successor, T'ung-chih (1862-74), but with scarcely a semblance of its former greatness. Under the present Emperor, Kuang-hsii, a considerable revival has taken place, and excellent imitations of some of the older wares are made, though the modern pieces are nearly always recognizable owing to their inferiority of technique ; but with few exceptions the wares of the nineteenth century have little interest for collectors, who, so long as they can get the fine pieces of the period of ex- cellence (1660-1800), will not be satisfied with later copies. 1 See plate 13, fig. 3. 43 CHAPTER V Form and Ornament A FEW words on the subject of Chinese porcelain- forms may be of service. Naturally they fall into two classes, the useful and the ornamental. The former consist largely of ceremonial objects such as sacrificial vessels, the shapes of which were borrowed at first from ancient bronzes, such as scrolled tripods and four-legged bowls, wine jars and libation cups, these last often copied from originals in carved rhino- ceros horn (plate 3, fig. 6). The Wu Rung, or five sacrificial vessels, consist of an incense urn, two pricket candlesticks, and two side vases, the last changing with the seasons, e.g. rhinoceros vases in spring, elephant vases in summer, cup-shaped vessels in autumn, and plain ovoid vases with spreading lips in winter. The colours of the ritual vessels varied according to the Temples ; those of the Ancestral temple being yellow ; of the temple of Heaven, blue ; of the temple of the Sun, red ; of the temple of Jupiter, the year-star, white. White, we may add, is the colour used by the Court in mourning. The domestic altar is a feature of Chinese houses, and sometimes it is garnished with the five pieces just described, some- 44 FORM AND ORNAMENT times with a single censer of Fuchien porcelain, and sometimes with a stemmed cup, flanked by a pair of lions with holders for the " joss-sticks " or incense rods. Other semi-ritual forms are the Buddhist alms-bowl, of low globular shape with small mouth, and the lustration vase of the mendicant monk, a spouted vessel of varying form. Among the vessels for profane use found in the Chinese house are the San she or set of three — an urn for burning chips of sandal wood or other sweet- smelling substances, a box in which the chips are kept and a small vase to hold the tongs or other implements used in the process ; these are seen in the library or reception-room. The furniture of the scholar's table includes a porcelain pallet, a slab for the cake of " Indian " ink, water-pots, water-droppers of quaint designs, paper weights often in human or animal forms, seals and oblong hand-rests for the writer's wrist. The pencil-brush has a complete outfit of its own, including, perhaps, a porcelain handle, a bath, a dipping dish, a bed to lie on, a rest usually in the shape of a conventional range of hills, and a cylinder to stand up in. Porcelain plaques are used for mounting as pictures or inlaying on wooden pillows. Vases there are of many shapes, mostly destined to hold flowers, of which the Chinese are devoted lovers. Many of these are copied from old bronze forms, and their shapes are legion ; beakers of various kinds, ovoid vases, hexagonal, square, bottle-shaped, club-shaped, etc., etc. : large vases for the hall and small vases for the library. A characteristic Ming shape has a thick foot, slender shank, bulging shoulders and small 45 CHINESE PORCELAIN narrow mouth. There are, besides, pots for growing flowers, large for the balcony and small for the table, and shaped dishes for the narcissus bulbs grown on sand and pebbles. Add to these fish-bowls for gold- fish or for use as flower-pots, barrel-shaped garden- seats, boxes, cabinets, hat-stands, cool pillows, hanging lamps with perforated sides and pierced hanging baskets for sweet-smelling blossoms. The " arrow cylinder " is an upstanding vase of cylindrical or square tubular form, resting in a socketed porcelain stand ; and small vases with tapering necks are used for sprinkling perfumes. Snuff -bottles are a class by themselves, embracing most of the vase forms and decorated with all the devices used by the Chinese art potter, engraving, piercing, moulding in relief, single-colour glazes, crackles, and enamel painting, and they include some of the choicest specimens of Chinese porcelain. They were used for other things besides snuff, e.g. medicine, pigments, etc., and many of them date back beyond the days of snuff and tobacco, which were introduced into China in the reign of Wan-li (1573-1619), but the majority will be found to bear the marks of Yung-cheng, Ch'ien-lung, Chia- Ch'ing and Tao-kuang of the present dynasty. Table services include spoons, chop-sticks, bowls of various sizes, drageoirs, saucer-dishes, wine-cups, tea-cups, etc., tea-pots and wine-ewers. Tea came into use during the T'ang dynasty, but tea-pots and wine- ewers with spouts appear to have been a novelty in the Yuan dynasty ; teacups are usually without saucers, though it is needless to say that saucers, plates with rims and cups with handles have been made in large 46 FORM AND ORNAMENT h. quantities for export to Europe from the reign of K'ang-hsi onwards. i!f Of the purely ornamental forms the Wu she, or set of five vases, include a pair of beakers on the outside, a pair of covered jars, and in the centre a jar with mouth smaller in diameter than the body. The Chinese set differs slightly in form and arrangement from the garnitures de cheminee, or mantelpiece set so largely imported by the Dutch East India merchants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ; the latter in- cluded three covered jars with two beakers between, usually in blue and white, or with enamelled panels on a lustrous brown tzu-chin ground, a style of decora- tion known in Europe as " Batavian." The magni- ficently decorated tall ovoid vases, sometimes five feet high, were used for the entrance hall, and called by the Chinese ti p'ing or " ground vases." Finally, many of the Chinese ornamental pieces are provided with carved wooden stands of beautiful and intricate workmanship which set off the porcelain to perfection. In considering the motives of Chinese porcelain- decoration, it must be borne in mind that the Chinese pot-painter is above all things a copyist. There is little or no originality about his designs, and even his ever-recurring dragons or phoenixes can be traced back to the ndgas and garudas of Indian mythology. He is, however, a colourist of the utmost skill, and in the changes he rings in his somewhat limited set of colours, in the brilliancy of his enamels and in the depth of tone, often gained by piling coat upon coat of colour, he is practically unrivalled. His sources of inspiration have been many ; the carved designs of 47 CHINESE PORCELAIN the Han dynasty tombs supplied his earliest motives, and these are of pure Chinese origin ; they include battles and warlike processions, peaceful meetings such as that of Confucius and Lao Tzu, historical scenes, the famous stories of feudal devotion, of filial piety, and the like. Another fertile source of design was the ancient bronzes which go back to immemorial antiquity ; and to these may be traced the moulded ornament of the Ting yao and early celadon bowls and dishes — phoenixes flying among flowers, diapered grounds of interlacing moutan peonies and lilies, fret borders, fishes in relief, etc., many of which display Indian influences derived from Buddhist sources. Intercourse with Persia and India was carried on freely up to the end of the Yuan dynasty, and revived again in the Ming, when the Mohammedan blue pig- ment was ' imported ; and no doubt the beautiful designs of the old Persian and Syrian faience had some influence on Chinese art. Antique carving and brocaded textiles were also freely drawn upon, as well as the old water-colour pictures on paper and silk. The subjects taken from these sources include religious and historical scenes, scenes from actual daily life, from poetry and romance, real and mythological, and flowers in natural or symbo- lical arrangement. The Chinese artist recognised four genres of subjects, (1) figures, (2) landscapes, (3) Nature, e.g. flowers and birds, (4) miscellaneous, the last being a very comprehensive class. Figure subjects, whether painted, engraved, or modelled in the round, were largely drawn from the three principal religions of China. The first of these is Confucianism, the cult 48 FORM AND ORNAMENT of the literati, founded by Confucius (551-479 B.C.). It was a system of philosophy rather than theology, and the deities were canonised mortals. Confucius, Kuan yii, the war god, and K'uei Hsing, the genius of literature, are the three personalities of this cult most commonly represented in art. Kuan yii is figured as a mail-clad warrior seated with hand uplifted, and K'uei Hsing as a demon-faced creature, holding a brush-pencil and writing implements and riding on a fish-dragon. The second system, Taoism, is better represented. It is a system of occult philosophy founded by Lao Tzu (b. 604 B.C.). The most popular of its divinities were Shou Lao, the god of Longevity, a bearded old man of benevolent aspect with bald head and grotesquely protuberant forehead, his clothes embroidered with the character Shou (longevity) ; he rides the air on a deer or stork, or the earth on the back of an ox. The Taoist Triad of Happiness, Rank and Longevity (Fu, Lu, Shou), consist of the three star gods : Fu Hsing who carries a babe reaching out for a peach which he holds in the other hand, Lu Hsing in Mandarin robes with winged official hat and a sceptre (ju-i), and Shou Hsing who holds a long staff, with scroll attached, and a peach. Another Taoist deity is Hsi Wang Mu, Queen of the Genii, and ruler of the Taoist paradise in the K'un-lun mountains, where the peach tree of Longevity grows in her gardens. The nature-gods of the wilderness, whose demon faces (t'ao-tieh) sometimes peer out from blue and white arabesques, were adopted by the Taoists, and the two Genii of Union and Harmony (Ho Ho Erh Hsien) belong to the same cult, a jolly pair with smiling boyish 49 S CHINESE PORCELAIN faces who appear in various disguises. Finally the Eight Immortals (Pa Hsien) are usually depicted crossing the sea on the way to the immortal realms ; they are patrons of various trades, and each has his distinctive emblem. Thus Chung-li Ch'iian carries a fan or fly whisk : Lii Tung-pin, patron of barbers, a sword : Li T'ieh-Kuai, patron of astrologers and magicians, a pilgrim's gourd and crooked iron staff : Ts'ao Kuo-ch'iu, patron of mummers and actors, the castanets : Lan Ts'ai-ho, patron of gardeners, a basket of flowers : Chang Kuo Lao, patron of artists and scholars, bamboo tubes and rods : Han Hsiang Tzu, patron of musicians, a flute : and Ho Hsien Ku, the virgin patron of housewifery, a lotus flower. But every trade had its patron saint and their names are legion. The third Chinese religion is Buddhism which was introduced from India before our era, but not established till the year 61 A.D. in the reign of Ming Ti. Prominent Buddhist figures are the eighteen Lohan or Arhats, the Buddhist apostles or missionaries, each of whom is figured with a distinctive badge and in a fixed attitude. The original number sixteen was increased by two in China, one of whom is the popular Ho-shang, the Japanese Ho-tei, the jolly monk, usually figured with corpulent person and a hempen bag : he loves children and is supposed to be the last incarna- tion of Maitreya, the Buddhist Messiah. But the deity most frequently portrayed in porcelain is Kuan- Yin, the Buddhist goddess of Mercy, depicted sitting or standing, with elaborate flowing drapery, and holding a child in her arms, a circumstance which has given rise to the idea that she is a Chinese representation of 50 do.- O ill $i$ tt! s u £ 'z~. £ < X rj as O O - K « O M » O fe •• ^ sSS FORM AND ORNAMENT the Virgin. The animals canonised in Buddhist art are the mythical ndga (a kind of cobra) and garuda (a golden winged bird), the lion who guards the jewel of the law, the elephant, horse and hare who alone of the beast creation are admitted to Nirvana. All these figure in Chinese decoration, the first three meta- morphosed almost out of recognition. The ndga de- velops into the Chinese dragon (Lung) " with a bearded, scowling head, straight horns, scaly, serpentine body with four feet armed with claws, a line of bristling dorsal spines, and flames proceeding from the hips and shoulders." The claws of this monster, originally three in number, were increased to four and five, the last being the number of those on the imperial dragons of the Ming and Ch'ing (the present) dynasties. The dragons are various, ruling in turn the air, the earth and the depths, but they are most com- monly depicted as in the following magnificent description : " A pair of five-clawed dragons pursuing the effulgent disk of omnipotence in the midst of cloud scrolls and lightning flames ! " Another variety is the Ch'ih lung (archaic dragon) of lizard-like appear- ance, commonly seen on the handles, or winding round the necks, of vases of ancient bronze form. The garuda becomes in Chinese art the Feng huang (see plate 10, fig. 2), a combination of the male (feng) and female (huang), a kind of phoenix that presages the advent of virtuous rulers and serves as the emblem of an auspicious reign. It is described as having " the head of a pheasant, beak of a swallow, long flexible neck, plumage of many gorgeous colours, flowing tail between that of an argus pheasant and a peacock, CHINESE PORCELAIN and long claws pointed backwards as it flies." It is seen flying through scrolled clouds mingled with forked flames, or moving through a dense floral ground. It has come to be the emblem of the empress, as the dragon is of the emperor, and in a wider signification the symbol of brides. The lion in Chinese art is a pleasant docile creature, not unlike in appearance to the Peking spaniel, but with mane, tail and joints adorned with flame-like attributes ; they are usually depicted in twos or threes, sporting harmlessly with balls of silk, but sometimes moulded singly in statuette form on an oblong base in front of a small tube intended to hold " joss-sticks " (plate 4, fig. 2). Another of these " Beasts that Buffon never knew " is the Unicorn (Ch'i-lin or Kylin, from ch'i, the male, and tin, the female) which has the " body of a deer, with slender legs and divided hoofs : the head re- sembles that of a dragon, the tail is curled and bushy, like the conventional lion, and the shoulders are adorned with the flame-like attributes of its divine nature" (plate 10, fig. 2). It is difficult to take seriously these portmanteau animals, worthy of a verse and a picture in " Tails with a Twist," but to the Chinese the Kylin appears as a happy portent. He lives for a thousand years, and is, moreover, the noblest beast of the animal creation ; he treads so lightly that he leaves no footprints, and does not crush the smallest insect in his path. The fox and the toad are likewise creatures of semi-religious im- 52 FORM AND ORNAMENT portance, and the tortoise and stork are revered as emblems of Longevity, whence the birthday greeting, " May your years be those of the tortoise and the stork." Many decorative motives are taken from plant life ; and most of them have symbolical meaning. The peach, pomegranate and " Buddha's hand " citron typify the three Abundances — of years, sons and happiness. The fungus (ling-chih), sometimes shown with blades of grass growing through it, and the gourd are emblems of Longevity ; and so are the pine, bamboo, and winter-blossoming plum (sung, chu, mei), the three friends, associated with Confucius, Buddha and Lao Tzu. The flowers appropriated to the Seasons are the prunus for winter, the tree- peony (pceonia Moutan) for spring, the lotus (nelum- bium speciosum) for summer and the chrysanthemum for autumn. With these are intimately connected the poet Li T'ai-po, the lover of the lotus, and T'ao Yuan-ming, the amateur of the chrysanthemum. Figure subjects, besides the religious and mythical, in- clude classical stories such as those of the Seven Wor- thies of the Bamboo Grove, the twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety, and the Virtuous Heroines. The pictures on the late Ming porcelain, a period of luxury and in- dolence at court, contrast with the virile, warlike pageants of the K'ang-hsi period. Another motive popular with Western amateurs is the mei jen, or pretty girls, the types of Chinese beauty, tall graceful figures which the Dutch irreverently named " lange lijsen " or long Elizas (plate 8, fig. 2). But perhaps the most interesting variety of this class of decoration 53 CHINESE PORCELAIN is the family pictures, which give us charming glimpses of the inner Chinese life, and the pictures of children at play so sympathetically treated by Chinese and Japanese alike. The Chinese landscape is too well known to need description ; the evergreen willow- pattern is an English adaptation of it with which every one is familiar. Nor is it necessary to comment on the absence of linear perspective in Chinese draw- ings, which on porcelain at any rate may well seem to the Western mind a charm rather than a defect, in that it imparts a suggestion of conventionalism to the treatment of the subject, in a material on which realistic pictures are usually quite out of place. There is besides a host of symbols and devices occurring in almost all Chinese porcelain decoration, either as the chief motive of the ornament, or in panels or borders, and not infrequently in place of a mark under the piece. It will be observed that purely Chinese orna- ment is rarely without some inner meaning, either of a religious or com- plimentary char- acter, which is readily expressed by symbols of good omen, such as fig. 1, the char- acter shou (long- evity), or the pair of mandarin ducks, the recog- nised emblems of conjugal felicity, appropriately figured on a wedding gift. Among the symbols of 54 Fig. 1. FORM AND ORNAMENT ancient Chinese lore, the most familiar are the Yin- yang and the Pa kua (fig. 2). The Yin-yang symbolizes the dualism of nature as expressed in darkness and light, female and male, etc., and is figured V^ by a circle bisected by ••• two semi-circles, irrever- ' ently likened to a pair | of tadpoles inter-locked. . The Pa-kua consists of >S^ eight trigrams, beginning >5S with three unbroken lines for the heaven Fig. 2. and ending with three broken lines for the earth — the intermediate dia- grams representing vapour, fire, thunder, wind, water and mountains : they illustrate a philosophical system explaining to the initiated all the phenomena of nature. Other symbols are the Eight Musical Instruments, and the Twelve Chang or ornaments embroidered on the ancient sacrificial robes. The Buddhist ornaments include the Eight Happy Omens (Pa Chi-hsiang) which appear among the signs figured on the sole of Buddha's foot, (1) the wheel of the law, enveloped in flames, or sometimes the bell (fig. 3), (2) the conch shell of victory (fig. 4), (3) the umbrella of state (fig. 5), (4) the tasselled canopy (fig. 6), (5) the lotus flower (fig. 7), (6) the vase (fig. 8), containing a ju*i sceptre or peacock's feather, (7) the pair of fish (fig. 9), emblems of fertility, and (8) the angular knot representing the entrails (fig. 10), an emblem of 55 CHINESE PORCELAIN Longevity ; as well as the Seven Gems, attributes of the universal monarch, (1) the golden wheel with a thousand spokes, (2) the " jade-like " girl (Yu JV#), (3) the horse, (4) the white elephant which carries the jewel of the law, (5) a minister, " Divine guardian of the Treasury," (6) the " general in command of the Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 8. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 10. THE EIGHT PRECIOUS THINGS (PA PAO). Army," and (7) the " wonder-working jewels," which fulfil every wish, figured by a bundle of jewelled wands bound with a cord. To these should be added the universal symbol known as the svastika (fig. 11). The Taoist symbols have already been mentioned, 56 FORM AND ORNAMENT including the attributes of the Eight Immortals (Pa an hsien), and the various emblems of Longevity,1 the peach, fungus (fig. 12), etc. Another compre- hensive class is called the Hundred Antiques (Po ku), including " the almost infinite variety of ancient symbols and emblems, derived from all kinds of sources, sacred and profane, which form a common motive for the decoration of porcelain and other art objects." Among these are the Eight Precious Things (Pa poo), the sphere or pearl, the circle enclosed in a square (the Chinese cash), the open lozenge with Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Fig. 14. ribbons, the solid lozenge, the musical stone of jade, the pair of books, the pair of rhinoceros horns, and the artemisia leaf ; besides the emblems of the four accomplishments (music, chess, calligraphy and painting), a lyre, a chess or O f 1 1| S "7J-'S ^ •"-) Cl *" ^ z V* ^ g£|s j <; «!l-> o ...'L, Q O O g w 3 S K S S 7 ^q (y ' ^^ EXPORT WARES of Fuchien porcelain arrayed in the Chinese conception of European dress. It is worth noting here that some of the ware sent in the white to Canton was taken over by European merchants and shipped to Europe in its undecorated state. These pieces have been painted in Holland, Germany, Austria, France, and at Chelsea and Bow in this country. One may even find examples of Chinese porcelain that have been transfer-printed at Battersea or Worcester, while another kind coated with lustrous brown (tzu chin) glaze has been decorated hi Holland or Austria by cutting a design, usually floral scroll work and birds, through the brown into the white on the lapidary's wheel. For a long time, too, the abominable practice obtained in Holland and elsewhere of adding coloured decoration to sparsely painted blue and white pieces, loading the surface with European designs in garish enamels ; the spurious ornament of this " klobbered " ware may be easily recognised not only by its want of taste, but by the quality of the colours which consist of black, a thick brick-red, dull blue and pale green. It is only to be expected that modern imitations of the porcelain of the best period should abound. Of these the best are made by the Chinese themselves and their neighbours in Japan, who copy the single colours and the famille verte wares with no little success : chipped rims and other signs of age are part of the general make-up of these pieces. The glazes of the demi-grand feu, turquoise and aubergine-purple especially, are cleverly reproduced in the potteries near Peking, but the body of these imitations is earthenware, not porcelain. There should be no difficulty to the 63 CHINESE PORCELAIN experienced eye in detecting the more obvious copies of Chinese porcelain made in considerable quantities in Paris and in Hungary. Fuchien Porcelain Practically the only kind of porcelain made outside Ching-te-chen, with which the Western collector is con- cerned, comes from the factories founded at Te-hua- hsien, in the province of Fuchien, early in the Ming dynasty, if not before. This is the pai tz'u, the white porcelain par excellence, called by the French collectors blanc de Chine. " The paste is of smooth texture, being of a creamy- white tint resembling ivory, while the rich, thick glaze, which has a satiny aspect, like the sur- face of soft-paste porcelain, blends closely with the paste underneath." The wares are almost entirely ornamental, figures and groups of religious or legendary characters, Buddhist deities, heroes, sacred animals like the kylin and the lion : libation cups copied from the rhinosceros horn shapes, and sometimes rice bowls, teapots and ewers with moulded reliefs of sacred design. The best known examples are figures of Kuan Yin, many of which are exceedingly graceful (plate 3, fig. 5). The only other ornament is effected by piercing or engraving in the paste, and the pieces are sometimes marked with a svastika (see p. 57) under- neath, or the potter's name engraved. European figures in this ware were made for export. The factories are flourishing to this day, and it is by no means easy to distinguish the old productions from the modern. Much of the early white porcelain made at Meissen, St. Cloud and Chelsea was copied from this ware. 64 A CHINESE DATE-MARKS. Yuan-feng (1078-1086). A Hsiian-te (1426-1435). Cheng-te (1506-1521). (1573-1619). * Hung-wu (1368-1398). A A * Ch'eng-hua (1465-1487). Chia-ching (1522-1566). A A T'ien-ch'i (1621-1627). 65 Yung-lo (1403-1424). Hung-chih (1488-1505). Lung- ch' ing (1567-1572). 4 t Ch'ung-ch'eng (1628-1643). F CHINESE DATE-MARKS— CH' ING DYNASTY. A t * '[Shun-chih (1644-1661). A it -ft K'ang-hsi (1662-1722). A Yung-cheng [(1723-1735). A * t ;l Ch'ien-lung (1736-1795). Chia-ch'ing (1796-1820). A Tao-kuang [(1821-1850). i .-A 4- A , a Q a o M s^ • g ^ 5 •« KIOTO lie was summoned in 1840 by the Lord of Koriyama td instruct the potters of Setsu. For his conspicuous success in copying ancient wares of all kinds he obtained the seal Tokin-ken (the weighty potter). In the same year, 1840, he opened a kiln near Omuro, Kioto, for the manufacture of faience in the style of Ninsei, and from there he moved in 1850 to Otsu on the shores of Lake Biwa,1 where he made porcelain in the Akaji-kinga style. He was known here as Butsu-yu. Fig. 35. Fig. 36. Fig. 37. •4 *- Fig. 37A. Fig. 38. He died about 1855, leaving two potter sons, Sizaburo and Zengoro. The latter, whose art-name was Wazen, was the more distinguished, though his productions did not approach the level of his father's work. Both were invited to Kaga, and Wazen remained there for six years developing the Akaji-kinga (red and gold) decoration which became the characteristic ornament 1 The ware made at the factory established on the shores of Lake Biwa in 1830 and closed in 1860, is called Koto-yaH (Koto — east of the lake) : mark Ko-to (fig. 38). 97 H a JAPANESE PORCELAIN of Kaga porcelain. Eiraku's masterpieces consist of porcelain with purple, turquoise and yellow glazes, often divided by designs with raised outline (plate 18, fig. 2), coral-red and gold, enamelled, and blue and white, with designs in relief, besides various kinds of faience. Imitations of Eiraku's Kai-raku-en were made at Otoko-yama (1847-66), and at Kobe (in Setsu) since 1877. Other Kioto porcelain makers are : Rokubei Seisai, son of the great Rokubei, who made blue and white porcelain, using his father's mark Sei (fig. 39) in a hexagon, from 1811-60. Zoroku (fl. 1849-75) who made porcelain of good technique, including Fig. 39. Fig. 40. celadon. Kitei (fl. 1818-29) and his sons. Seifu Yohei, who followed Dohachi in his simple naturalistic style of decoration ; he made pottery and porcelain, copying Chinese models, in blue and white and also in red and gold ; he started in 1844, and was succeeded in 1861 by his son of the same name (fig. 40). And Gorosuke, who began in 1852, a pupil of Rokubei and a maker of blue and white porcelain. The porcelain industry flourishes on a large scale at Kioto at the present day. A factory was started at Kaseyama, in the Yama- shiro district, by Morimoto Sukezaemon, who dis- covered porcelain stone there in 1827. He obtained the help of Kioto experts and the Kaseyama-yaki, which is chiefly blue and white, was continued till about 1868. 98 a £ ~ U MEISSEN and thirty-nine different birds. Figures of children are perhaps the most common and at the same time the most pleasing : they appear in nearly all the allegorical sets. The dates of the various figures can be determined by the costume and the decoration ; the earlier were more simply coloured, rich gilding and elaborate ornament belonging to the height of the rococo period. Among the early dresses the crinoline is conspicuous (plate 22), and figures and groups dressed in this costume are much sought after. Elaborate lace-work appears at a later date, a tour de force which English potters cleverly copied at Derby about 1775. When the Meissen factory fell into Prussian hands during the Seven Years' War, it was leased for a time to one Helbig, who fortunately was a man of taste and energy. The last ten years of the third period (1764-74) were marked by the first symptoms of the neo-classical style, introduced at Meissen by C. W. E. Dietrich, whose administration was signalised by the appearance of a dot between the crossed swords, which now served as the regular factory mark (fig. 55). In the fourth period, under the guidance of Count Camillo Marcolini (1774-1814), the neo-classical style was fully developed. The exuberance of the rococo or- nament now gave place to severe outlines borrowed from antique shapes, and the ware was covered with pro- fuse painting in which formal landscapes, medallions containing classical heads, and stiff naturalistic^ flowers played the chief part. The most conspicuous ground colours of the period were a dark blue (bleu du roi) and a dull green. The pseudo-classical style at Meissen, as else- 125 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN where, proved to be the harbinger of decline, though fine pieces were still made, among which biscuit figures from classical designs and the work of the modeller Jiichzer 1 (fl. 1786) are worthy of attention. A star between the crossed swords distinguishes the mark of the Marcolini period (fig. 56). The wave of degener- oft Fig. 54. Fig. 56. ation was not spent till about 1830, when a revival took place in the shape of a return to the style of the best period. But the production of cheap goods for the market had become a necessity, and there was little chance of recovering the former excellence, particu- larly as the supplies of the best kaolin became ex- 1 Jiichzer modelled the Three Graces, among other fine statuettes. 126 MEISSEN hausted in the last part of the nineteenth century and inferior materials had to be used. The body and glaze of old Meissen porcelain is exquisitely fine and white ; and the surface, compared with that of the Chinese ware, is, if anything, whiter though less lustrous, the latter having a peculiar oily sheen and slight greenish tint which is absent from the Meissen glaze : it is, however, more nearly akin to Japanese porcelain of Kakiemon's make. 127 CHAPTER XIV Vienna IN spite of the precautions taken at Meissen to guard the secrets of the porcelain factory, as early as 1718 a Dutchman named Du Paquier at Vienna was able to obtain the assistance of two Meissen workmen — S. Stolzel and Christoph K. Hunger, — and to start the manufacture of true porcelain in the Austrian capital. The venture was not a success, and after struggling on till 1744 the factory passed into the hands of the Empress Maria Theresa, who appointed Karl Mayerhofer von Griinbuchel as director. The early Viennese porcelain is not distinguished by originality of form or decoration, the Meissen models being closely copied, and it was not till it came under the able management of Baron Konrad von Sorgenthal in 1784 that the rich style with fine colours and exquisite gilding, for which Vienna porcelain is noted, came into being (plate 24, fig. 1). An art school was then started and a fresh impetus was given to the work. Raised gilding in fine chiselled relief by Georg Perl, a good blue ground colour invented by Joseph Leithner, biscuit figures and other works in the round by Anton Grassi distinguish this period, classical forms pre- 128 o o 5 HOCHST dominating here as elsewhere. Sorgenthal died in 1805, and under his successor, Niedermayer, the prac- tice of copying pictures on plates and dishes — a style of decoration very generally associated with Viennese porcelain — was introduced. After 1827 cheap goods were made under pressure of competition and the ware degenerated. The earliest mark is said to have been a W, ••• but most of the ware was unmarked till 1744, when the Austrian shield (fig. 57) was used ; the latter was generally painted in underglaze blue, but stamped with a wood block after 1827. In 1784 the practice of impressing the last two numerals of the date- of the year was introduced. Hochst The factory of Hochst, near Mainz, was started in 1746 by two men of enterprise, Goltz and Clarus, assisted by von Lowenfinck, a Meissen painter. It was not at first successful, and in 1752 Bengraf was appointed director ; but he left in the f ollowing year, and in 1757 Goltz died. The Elector of Mainz, how- ever, interfered in 1765, and turned the business into a company. In 1778 it became an Electoral factory, and continued as such till 1796, when the works were sold by auction. The productions of the factory were distinguished by statuettes and groups of the finest quality (plate 25, figs. 1 and 2), the principal modellers being L. Eussinger, Johann Peter Melchior (1770-80), and later Karl Riess. Melchior, the most celebrated 129 K CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN of these, is credited with no less than three hundred figures, besides a number of excellent portrait medal- lions.1 The other wares made at Hochst were in the Meissen style, but the painting of the figures is dis- tinguished by a pale, clear rose colour, and that of the other productions by monochrome decoration in a peculiar and highly effective carmine. The principal painters were G. F. Hess, Danhofer, Massault, Usinger, and Wohlfahrt. The mark is the wheel of Mainz, painted or impressed, and sometimes ensigned with a crown (fig. 58). About 1840 the old Hochst moulds were acquired by the factory of Damm, near Aschaffenburg, and were used for the manufacture of earthenware figures which are marked with the wheel and the letter D. Nymphenburg (Bavaria) Max Joseph III., Elector of Bavaria, being anxious to have a porcelain manufactory, attempts were made to establish the industry at Neudeck. With the help of Joseph Jacob Ringler of Vienna this was partially accomplished, but, Ringler leaving before his task was done, it was left for J. P. Hartel to work out the remainder of the necessary processes. The factory, once established, was transferred to Nymphenburg in 1758, where it continued to flourish till 1777. Dur- ing the reign of Karl Theodor, Elector Palatine, who 1 Melchior went to Frankenthal in 1780 and thence to Nymphenburg, where he died in 1825. I30 NYMPHENBURG (BAVARIA) Fig. 59. succeeded Max Joseph, the factory languished, but full support was given to it again under Maximilian IV. who strengthened the staff with workmen from Frank- enthal. In 1810 the treasures of the royal picture gallery were opened to the study of the painters, [and a new era of decoration began. The factory has continued in operation down to modern times, but the best pieces since 1815 have been sent to Munich for decoration. The old Nymphen- burg ware, as a general rule, differs little from the ordinary wares of the time (plate 24, fig. 2). The marks are various forms of the Bavarian coat-of-arms (fig. 59) ; though sometimes two triangles with letters and numbers in the angles was used (fig. 60). Fig. 60. Ludwigsburg (Wiirtemberg) The factory of Ludwigsburg was founded by Duke Charles, under the guidance of Ringler, who remained here till 1802. In spite of its unfavourable situation porcelain of the finest quality was produced, thanks to the liberal subsidies of its ducal patron (plate 26, fig. 1). The mark is a double C under a crown (fig. 61), and from this circumstance the ware has been ineptly called " Kronenburg " porcelain. The material used was the Kaolin of Passau, and the ware CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN has a grayish tint ; but excellent figures were made, par- ticularly under the guidance of Pustelli, who was head- modeller from 1760-62. His statuettes include the usual subjects — hunters, gardeners, shepherds, dancers, etc. In 1759 J. C. Beyer, after completing his studies at Paris and Rome, brought back with him the neo- classical taste. He remained till 1767, when he was appointed court painter and sculptor at Vienna. Other artists were Reidel of Meissen, who painted landscapes, birds, etc., Steinkopf from Frankenthal, Danhofer of Hochst, and Kirschwer of Bayreuth. After the death of Duke Carl, in 1793, the factory gradually declined, and was closed in 1824. Frankenthal (Palatinate) When the jealous protective measures used to sup- port the Sevres factory brought the work of Paul Anton Hannong at Strasburg, which was at that time under French jurisdiction, to an abrupt close in 1755, he was hospitably received by Carl Theodor, the Elector Palatine, and started the manufacture of porcelain at Frankenthal. His efforts were not altogether success- ful, and he left the work to his son Joseph Adam to complete. In 1762 the factory was bought by Carl Theodor, and carried on under the guidance of Berg- doll (1762-75) and Frylner. In 1780 it was again in an evil plight, and fifteen years later had to be sold by auction. In spite of the difficulties experienced, well- painted services, fine figures and groups were produced, and Frylner improved the paste and perfected the 132 FURSTENBERG bleu du roi ground colour, besides pro- ducing a good black under the glaze and raised gilding of high quality. The marks consist of the crowned lion of the Palatinate (fig. 62) with or without a monogram of the initials of Joseph Adam Hannong, or the crowned cypher of Carl Theodor (fig. 63). A plate of the year 1775 in the Franks Collection at Bethnal Green, gives specimens of all the colours and gild- ing used at the time. Fig. 62. Fig. 63. Fiirstenberg The Duke of Brunswick, being desirous of possessing a porcelain factory, instructed the Oberjagermeister von Langen to arrange matters. He engaged J. C. Glaser, of Bayreuth, in 1746 as arcanist, but the attempt was unsuccessful until the arrival in 1753 of Bengraf from Hochst, who brought with him the painter Zeschinger. In the following year Feilner came from the same factory, but the progress of the work was slow. The Passau earth was used, producing a grayish ware, and it was not till 1770 that the best period of the works began. Good landscape painting and enamel decora- tion were accomplished at this time, but the speciality of the factory was biscuit groups, statuettes and medal- lion portraits, modelled by Luplau, Desoches and Schubert. The plastic works in china, bronze and ivory in the Brunswick cabinets were used as models. 133 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN In 1780 the ducal support was reduced and the factory languished, but under the guidance of Fig. 64. Gerverot from Sevres a revival took place between the years 1797 and 1829. The factory was sold by auction in 1888, and as the old figure moulds passed into other hands, modern Fig. 65. imitations are not uncommon in the market. The mark was generally F in underglaze blue (fig. 64), but the horse of Brunswick was impressed on the biscuit pieces (fig. 65). Berlin The first Berlin factory was started by Wilhelm Caspar Wegeli in 1750, assisted by an arcanist from Hochst, and though some fine figures and services were made, Wegeli abandoned the enterprise in 1757. His successor Reichard made little progress, and in 1761 the works were taken over by J. E. Gotzkowski, an army contractor, who persuaded Glance, Mayer, Bohm, Boermann, and Klipfel to leave Meissen and enter his service. In 1793 Frederick the Great ac- quired the factory and brought workmen and materials from Meissen. So far the body of the ware, made with Passau earth, was of a yellowish gray tone, and a good white porcelain was not attained till 1771, when kaolin from Silesia and Hall was introduced. From 1777 the material from Hall was exclusively used, and a fine glassy, translucent body of bluish white tint resulted. The rococo style predominated at Berlin till the end of the century, and in spite of the presence of Meissen artists, the Saxon models and moulded 134 THURINGIA ornaments were not extensively copied. Tea and coffee services were the most usual productions, and fine results were obtained with a limited range of colours, rose-red and gray, green and gray, iron-red with black and gold or green, being favourite combina- tions. The rose red, the favourite colour of Frederick the Great, was a speciality of the factory, and fine monochromes were executed in this colour and in iron- red, the figure scenes and landscapes being especially good. Grieninger was director during this period and continued to hold the post till 1798. About 1810 cheap production was studied, and printed decoration introduced ; decadence followed, but a revival has lately taken place, and biscuit figures modelled by Genelli and Schadow are a feature of the late nineteenth century work. The price list of 1777 mentions examples of Meissen decorations, particularly in the plates with rims moulded in raised panels, basket work, ribbing : pierced work of many designs was a speciality of this class of Berlin ware. The mark used by Gotzkowski was *& o o a G (fig. 66), and after 1763 the regular VI * factory mark was the sceptre borne Flg> 66* Flg' by the Elector of Brandenburg as Grand Chamberlain of the Empire (fig. 67). Thuringia A number of small factories sprang up in Thuringia in the last half of the seventeenth century ; they were a purely local and independent development, the 135 Wl I CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN materials being obtained in the district. In 1758 the chemist Macheleid accidentally discovered a deposit of kaolin, and started a factory at Salzerode, which was shortly afterwards bought by Nonne and removed to Volkstedt, near Rudolstadt. In 1770 it was taken over by Gotthilf Greiner, who worked it in conjunction If s Fig. 68. Fig. 69. Fig. 70. y Fig- 7 1-1 .' Fig._72. Fig. 73. Fig. 74. Fig. 75. Fig. 77. Fig. 78. Fig. 79. Fig. 80. with factories at Kloster Veilsdorf (founded in 1762) and Wallendorf . The same man founded the works at Limbach in 1761 and Grossbreitenbach in 1770. Other manufactories were started at Gotha by Rotteberg about 1766, at Gera in 1780, at Rauenstein and at Ilmenau : in the last two of these factories Wedg- wood's blue and white jasper ware was copied. The 136 CASSEL Thuringian ware is as a rule of inferior quality and grayish tone, but that of Kloster Veilsdorf under the patronage of the Duke of Hildburghausen attained some importance. Original figures of good quality were made here, and a peculiar style of flower-painting — large, lightly-painted flowers in bright colours with slender thread-like stalks — distinguishes the ware. The cups and saucers of Thuringian make may some- times be recognized by a reeded pattern on the inside. Marks, R for Rudolstadt, and perhaps a hayfork (fig. 68) : fig. 69, perhaps for Salzerode : fig. 70, the arms of Saxony and initials CV, for Closter Veilsdorf, as also fig. 71 : fig. 72, for Wallendorf : varieties of the trefoil, for Grossbreitenbach, possibly an allusion to the union of factories under Greiner (figs. 73-5) : crossed ' L 's (fig. 76), for Limbach : R — n, for Rauen- stein : G (fig. 77), for Gera : T. (fig. 78), for a Thurin- gian factory, name unknown : R, for Gotha, and fig. 79, referring to the Director Rotteberg, as also fig. 80. Cassel The manufacture of a fine porcelain was achieved at the faience factory of Cassel in 1766 by the help of N. Paul, an arcanist from Fulda. Artists from Fiirstenberg, Fulda and Nymphenburg were employed, and good figures and groups were produced along with other more ordinary wares. The period of excellence only lasted till 1771, when the work flagged, and in 1788 the manufacture was abandoned. Marks, the Hessian lion and HC for Hesse Cassel. 137 CONTINENTAL POKCELAIN Fulda (Hesse) Nothing is known of the supposed early manufacture of porcelain at Fulda between the years 1741 and 1758, but a factory seems to have been started in 1765 by Nicolas Paul under the patronage of the Prince- bishop Arnandus. The vessels and figures were of great beauty, and were mostly acquired by the bishops and their retinue. The factory was given up in 1780. The marks were a double-F under a crown (fig. 81), and a cross (fig. 82), the title of the factory being, Furstlich Fuldaische feine Porzellan-FabriJc. Fig. 81. Fig. 82. Fig. 83. Fig. 84. Kelsterbach (Hesse-Darmstadt) Porcelain was made at the faience factory from about 1760-72 ; it consisted of useful wares and figures, and the mark was HD combined under a crown. Ansbach (now in Bavaria) A factory of small importance was started here about 1760 and four years later removed to the Mar- grave's castle at Bruchberg ; the ware was marked with an A, the shield of the town (fig. 83) or the eagle of Brandenburg. 138 BAYREUTH (BAVARIA) Bayreuth (now in Bavaria) Very little is known of this factory, and the date of its foundation is variously put at 1720 and 1766. It appears that J. C. Glaser, of Bayreuth, was engaged as an arcanist by the Duke of Brunswick in 1746, but as his mission entirely failed, little evidence of progress at Bayreuth can be inferred from the incident. In the Franks collection, are two cups signed by Bayreuth painters, Metzsch and Jucht, the former in the year 1748. Other factories are, Baden (late 18th cent.), belonging to the Widow Sperl, with Pfalzer as director : mark, two hatchets (fig. 84). Poppelsdorf by Bonn, for a few years from 1755, under the patronage of the Elector of Koln. The Bohemian factories at Schlaggenwald founded in 1810 : mark, an S (fig. 85) or the name of the firm ; at Pirkenhammer, founded 1802, and from 1818 in the hands of the Fischer family with their partners : marks, the initials of the firm (figs. 86 and 87) ; Elbogen : mark, an arm with a sword ; Thun- Klosterle, early nineteenth century : mark, a mono- gram of the cursive capitals T and K (fig. 88). The modern factory of Herend in Hungary, directed by Fischer, is celebrated for extraordinary skill in imitating Japanese, Chinese, Capo-di-Monte, Sevres and other celebrated wares. The mark is the name of the place, stamped in small letters that are easily over- looked, with the Hungarian coat of arms sometimes painted over the glaze (fig. 89). In addition to the painters and gilders attached to the various factories, there have always been a 139 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN certain number of private enamellers who obtained the ware, in the white if possible, and painted it in their own ateliers. One class of these chambrelans, to use the French name, has been engaged for many years in covering sparsely painted wares of the old factories with rich decoration in order to enhance their market value. But there were others who decorated HffiEMD (OF F&l Fig. 85. Fig. 86. Fig. 87. Fig. 88. Fig. 89. Fig. 90. the wares of their own time without any intent to deceive. Among these was one of the best of the early Vienna painters, W. Bottengruber, who had an estab- lishment at Breslau about 1726 and painted Meissen, Vienna and even Chinese porcelain with warlike scenes in lilac monochrome in a setting of trophies in red, yellow, green and lilac, and gilt foliated scroll work in baroque taste (fig. 90). Another chambrelan of the 140 " CHAMBRELANS " same city was Preussler (fl. 1737) who decorated dishes, plates, bowls, tea-cups, etc., in similar style in black, lighted with gold ; and in the middle of the century A. O. E. Busch, Canon of Hildesheim, was noted for a peculiar decoration effected by etching on the glaze with a diamond point and rubbing a black pigment into the incisions, his favourite designs being copied from the etchings of the Dutch artists. It is worthy of note in this connexion that Meissen porcelain when sold in the white state, is marked with a cut over the crossed swords, and, if the ware is defective, two and even three cuts are made. 141 CHAPTER XV Denmark AFTER various unsuccessful attempts to intro- duce a manufacture of porcelain with assistance from Meissen, the earliest of which occurred in 1731, kaolin was discovered in the Island of Bornholm in 1756 and a factory started at Copenhagen, " by the Blue Tower," with Mahlhorn, a Meissen modeller, as director. Practically nothing is known of this venture, and in 1760 the Blue Tower works were handed over to Louis Fournier, who made an artificial soft-paste ware for five years ; the ornament was in the rococo style and green predominated in the colouring ; the mark was the cypher of King Friederich V. (fig. 91). A manufactory of true porcelain was started in the same city in 1772 by the chemist Muller, assisted by the modeller Luplau from Fiirstenberg (d. 1790), the flower-painter J. C. Bayer, of Niirnberg (1776-1812), and three Meissen workmen, including the painter Schlegel. The ware, however, was not successful, much was spoilt in the firing, and of the perfect pieces the majority was sent to the Palace. In 1779 King Christian bought the factory, and a period of consider- able success followed during the next eleven years, in which the rococo style of Fiirstenberg and Meissen 142 I H u I £S <& a S s * SWEDEN was conspicuous, though three painters from Berlin subsequently made their influence felt. The copying of the Meissen blue flowers on ordinary ware progressed side by side with a more original style, in which well- executed, but somewhat stiff floral designs were the chief motive. With the exception of Luplau's biscuit, the figures were not successful. The Empire style Fig. 91. Fig. 92. pervaded the work at the end of the eighteenth century, and decadence set in from 1800-1820. An improve- ment took place under Hetsch's direction in 1824, and the factory is still flourishing. The mark consists of three wavy lines (fig. 92) indicating the three belts of sea which divide the islands of Zealand and Fiinen from Jutland. Sweden Swedish porcelain is practically confined to the three kinds made at Marieberg : a soft artificial ware, re- Fig. 93. Fig. 94. Fig. 95. sembling Mennecy porcelain, made about 1770 and marked MB in monogram (fig. 93) : true porcelain marked with the three crowns of Sweden, the initials CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN of the place, and letters supposed to indicate the artists or directors (fig. 94), about 1780 : and a hybrid porce- lain marked with the three crowns, and the emblem of the royal house of Vasa (fig. 95). The industry seems to have come to an end in 1782. Russia The Imperial factory at St. Petersburg was estab- lished about 1745 by order of the Empress Elizabeth, and largely developed under Catherine II. The ware was good and highly decorated after Meissen models, and, like the other Russian porcelains, it was true Fig. 97. Fig. 98. Fig. 99. Fig. 100. hard-paste. The mark was the initial of the successive sovereigns (figs. 96 and 97). Of less importance were the two Moscow factories, one started in 1780 by an Englishman named Gardner (fig. 98), and the other somewhat later by A. Popoff, whose initials (fig. 99) were used as the mark. Clever figures of peasants, etc., were made at both (plate 26, fig. 3). The factory at Korsec, in Volhynia, was founded in 1803 by a Sevres painter named Merault, and porcelain is still made there. The mark was a triangle enclosing a human eye (fig. 100), and the ware was good and the gilding fine. Another factory in Volhynia was that at Baranowka, where local clay 144 Z SWITZERLAND was used and the ware marked with the name of the place. Switzerland A factory was started near Zurich in 1763 by Heideg- ger and Korrodi with the help of Spengler from Hochst. Good figures and services with well-painted landscapes were made till 1791, the mark being the letter Z (fig. 101). The ware was sometimes printed. Soft artificial porcelain was made for a few years, but it was soon succeeded by true porcelain, the body having a slightly t * 9 creamy tint. The best period extended from 1775-1790. The factory at Nyon, on the lake Geneva, was established by a Frenchman, named Maubree, and worked -pig. 102. on French lines : it was at one time managed by Robillard of Sevres, but eventually was converted into a faience factory in 1813. The mark was a fish in blue (fig. 102). Holland The first Dutch factory was started at Weesp, near Amsterdam, in 1764, by Count Gronsfeldt-Diepen- brock, with German workmen ; it lasted for seven years, the mark being the crossed swords of Meissen with three dots (fig. 103). This venture was followed by the establishment of a factory at Oude Loosdrecht, between Amsterdam and Utrecht, by an ecclesiastic named de Moll, on whose death in 1782 the business was removed to Oude Amstel. The mark was M : OL. 145 L CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN Another Dutch factory, which lasted ten years, was founded at The Hague in 1775 by a German named Leichner ; the ware was, like that of the other Dutch factories, true porcelain in the Meissen style, and the mark consisted of a stork holding a fish in its beak, the emblem of the town (fig. 104). Soft porcelain of Tournay is said to have been brought to The Hague factory for decoration. The factory at Oude Amstel lasted till the close of the century, the ware being marked Amstel. Another factory was founded at Niewe Amstel, but was of short Fig. 103. Fig. 104. Fig. 105. duration. It is doubtful if porcelain was made at Luxemburg at the faience factory founded there by the brothers Boch in 1767, but a few pieces marked LB (fig. 105) have been provisionally assigned to that place. Belgium The important manufactory of Tournay was founded in 1750 by Frangois Joseph Peterinck, who obtained possession of the faience works existing there, and successfully applied for a thirty years privilege from the Government for the production of soft-paste porcelain. The body of his ware rivals that of Sevres porcelain, and copies of Sevres and Meissen vase-forms were made and decorated with fine painting and gild- 146 BELGIUM ing (plate 27, fig. 3) ; the principal workmen being Peterinck, Duvivier, La Massellerie and Joseph Mayer, painters, and Gillis and N. Lecreux, modellers, who were responsible for some fine groups and figures, both glazed and in biscuit. Peterinck died in 1798, and the factory fell on evil days during the Napoleonic wars. It has, however, continued to make ware of an ordinary domestic kind. The marks were, at first a tower from the arms of 3 Fig. 106. Fig. 107. Fig. 108. the town (fig. 106), and later two swords in saltire with small crosses, the arms of Peterinck (fig. 107). A true porcelain manufactory was started in Brussels by L. Crette about 1790, the mark used being his name or initials, or the letters EB combined (fig. 108), and perhaps B under a crown. CHAPTER XVI France FRENCH porcelain falls into two classes, (1) artificial soft-paste, the product of the earlier factories, and (2) true porcelain, or hard-paste, the manufacture of which has become general since the latter part of the eighteenth century. It has already been noted that the first European porcelain was of the artificial kind and was made in Italy in the sixteenth century, and some connexion may yet be established between these attempts and the rediscovery of a similar ware about a century later by Louis Poterat at Rouen. Poterat's porcelain was made first at his father's faience factory, and afterwards at his own works under a privilege granted to him in 1673 ; and though it was not commercially successful and was soon abandoned, the existing specimens of the ware are of high quality, the painting consisting chiefly of formal scallops, lacework and arabesques in the style affected on the Rouen faience. Though definite proofs are still wanting, it is generally believed that the factory established at St. Cloud, about three miles west of Paris, not later than 1695, was a direct descendant of Poterat's manufactory. Certainly 148 •a a ST. CLOUD the character of the ware and its blue decoration emphatically support this theory. The porcelain of St. Cloud is of soft warm appearance and milky white colour, highly translucent, with ornament consisting of blue painting under the glaze in Rouen style (plate 28, fig. 1), or of enamelled designs in oriental taste ; some of the ware was issued in the white with oriental flowers and ornaments in low relief ; while an imbricated pattern resembling the leaves of an artichoke and gadrooned mouldings are of frequent occurrence. The marks were the sun in splendour, emblem of Louis XIV. (fig. 109), and, from 1712, the initials of the place and a T (fig. 110) (for Henry Trou, who married the widow of Chicanneau one of the first directors) besides various initials sometimes accompanied by a cross or numerals. The factory declined on the development of the royal factory at Sevres and was burnt down in 1773. Next in date is the unimportant factory of Lille, founded in 1711 by Dorez, the ware being chiefly copied from St. Cloud porcelain and the mark one or two L's. At a later date a hard-paste factory was started here (p. 170). The factory at Chantilly, about fifteen miles north of Paris, was founded by Ciquaire Cirou under the patronage of Louis Henri, Prince de Conde, during whose lifetime it attained to considerable importance. The ware is noted for its beautiful white soft-paste body and peculiarly delicate decoration in the Kakiemon style of Japanese porcelain (plate 28, fig. 3). An interesting feature of the early ware is its opaque glaze which contains tin, thus differing from all other soft porcelains ; and it will be noted that the decoration is 149 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN first firmly outlined in red or black and the coloured enamels applied in light washes. The Meissen style was also followed for a time, as afterwards the rich decorations of Sevres. After the death of the Prince de Conde an inferior ware was made and decorated with floral sprays in blue. The factory continued till the Revolution, and an unsuccessful attempt was afterwards made to revive it by an Englishman named Potter. The mark was a hunting-horn in red (fig. Ill), and afterwards in blue, sometimes accompanied by a letter — perhaps the initial of a director's name (fig. 112). A soft-paste porcelain of great purity and beauty was made at Mennecy, in the lie de France, from 1735, under the patronage of the Due de Villeroy, the founder of the factory being Barbin. The decoration consisted of finely enamelled flowers, landscapes in various monochromes, and good gilding ; a number of small statuettes and groups were also made, either pure white (plate 27, figs. 1 and 2) or boldly coloured, and with the reliefs sometimes defined by lines of black or manganese ; besides these a great quantity of fancy articles such as patch-, snuff-, and bonbon-boxes, cane-handles, knife-hafts, etc., were manufactured. The mark is DV, initials of the Due de Villeroy, in blue or gold, or incised in the paste (fig. 113). In 1773 the works were removed to Bourg-la-Reine, where an imitation of the old ware was made for a short time only, the mark being BR incised. Soft porcelain of high quality and well decorated was also made at Sceaux in the lie de France about 1753, under the patronage of the Due de Penthievre, the 150 fc < §1 > li ARRAS mark consisting of the letters Sx (fig. 114), and an anchor incised. The founding of the factory at Arras is variously placed as early as 1711 and as late as 1784, but the ware was of a common kind and of little importance. The mark is A R in blue (fig. 115). The ware of these early French factories is all very much alike, and often only distinguishable by certain mannerisms of the workmen. It is in fact the same soft artificial ware which reached its highest development in the beautiful productions of Vincennes and Sevres, now about to be described. The decoration may be said to consist mainly of scallops and arabesques, copies of Japanese and Meissen patterns and more rarely imitations of -?. Fig. 110. Fig. 111. Fig. 112. I Fig. 113. Fig. 114. Fig. 115. 7* Sevres porcelain ; and though by their intrinsic beauty and rarity these wares have earned no little distinction, they are quite overshadowed by the splendid achieve- ments of the royal factory of France. Moreover, the privileges granted to the Sevres factory restricted the decoration elsewhere to under-glaze blue and certain monochromes, and prohibited the use of gold. Thanks, CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN however, to the patronage of powerful nobles these restrictions were largely evaded, but still it will be found that much of the porcelain made at Mennecy and else- where from 1759 onwards is sparingly painted, and that the edges are lined with pink or blue instead of gilding. Vincennes and Sevres In 1740 the two brothers Dubois, who had previously worked at St. Cloud and Chantilly, proposed to the Marquis Orry de Fulvy the establishment of a porcelain factory under his patronage. The sympathy of the King, Louis XV., was enlisted in the project, and the riding school at the Chateau de Vincennes was allotted for the work. The Dubois were not successful, but one of their assistants, named Gravant, brought about the desired consummation, and a company was formed in 1745 with royal support and a privilege for thirty years. Hellot was appointed scientific director, and in two years the work was sufficiently advanced to produce a vase worthy of royal acceptance. The factory was reconstituted in 1753, and the King took a third of the shares, renewing the monopoly for twelve years only ; and two years later the whole concern was transferred to Sevres, which lies between the royal palace of Versailles and Paris. In 1759 Louis XV. became entire proprietor, and the work was closely protected, to the discouragement of all other porcelain enterprise in France. The ware, however, had already reached perfection before the removal from Vincennes, arid though the general composition of soft-paste 152 SEVRES artificial porcelain has been described in an early chapter, it will be worth while to look more closely into the ingredients of Gravant's ware, in which artificial porcelain is seen in its highest development. The body consisted of a mixture of Fontainebleau sand, saltpetre, sea-salt, soda, alum, and gypsum, which was first melted into a glass or frit : the frit was then pulverised and combined with Argenteuil marl, in the proportion of nine to three parts. The body thus formed was fired to a biscuit state, and the glaze — composed of Fontainebleau sand, litharge, salts of soda, flint and potash — was sprinkled on ; and the ware was submitted to a second firing. A beautiful soft, creamy white ware was the result with a rich glossy glaze, velvety to the touch, the colour of which has been not ineptly compared with the appearance of cream cheese. Not only is this soft porcelain ad- mirably suited by its tone to serve as background for enamel painting, but it has the particular advantage of possessing a glaze so soft that the enamels sink in and become incorporated with it, even in the low heat of the muffle kiln, gaining greatly thereby in lustre and durability. The first Vincennes porcelain was either pure white with relief ornament mainly in Chinese taste, or coloured on the reliefs only. Next came the decora- tion in scattered flowers laid on in dull thick gilding, which was finely chased with an iron point or nail (au clou) ; and a similar ornament was applied over a dark blue (bleu du roi) ground (as in plate 30). The bleu du roi is at once the most characteristic and the most brilliant ground colour of the royal factory : 153 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN it was indeed so brilliant that it was thought necessary to relieve the larger surfaces by gilt diapers, of which network, vermicular and ceil-de-perdrix (a pattern of tiny dotted circles) are the most common. Other ground colours followed — turquoise, rose Pompadour (incorrectly called rose Diibarry), both invented by Hellot,1 violet, yellow, and various shades of green. Enamel painting was early introduced, though at first fan-painters and enamellers of jewellery had to be requisitioned for this department, the ornament con- sisting chiefly of floral sprays and wreaths on the table services, and coloured grounds broken by gilt-edged panels, in which were painted figure subjects, land- scapes, birds, flowers, etc., after designs by distin- guished artists such as Boucher, and Vanloo. Mathieu first presided over the painting, and afterwards Bachelier ; and Duplessis, the king's goldsmith, acted as art director. Other famous assistants at the factory were Falconet, the royal sculptor, and the painter Genes t. Madame de Pompadour took a deep interest in the work, even providing designs for the porcelain ; she was, moreover, a liberal purchaser of the wares, among which were those famous flowers, so cunningly modelled and painted] that on a celebrated occasion Louis XV., on being taken by her into a hot- house filled with them, was completely deceived as to their real nature. From 1759 to 1773 the direction of the factory was entrusted to Boileau, a man of great industry and talent, during whose administration the porcelain attained its highest level. The chief 1 The invention of the rose Pompadour is attributed by many writers to Xrowet. 154 SJ SEVRES productions of the factory may be said to have con- sisted of fanciful vases in rococo taste, the forms of which were revised from year to year, dinner, tea and coffee services, jardinieres, flower pots, small vases and pot pourris, and dainty little snuff-boxes, patch-boxes, scent bottles, and other similar objects, besides plaques for inlaying in furniture, and a great quantity of groups and figures in very beautiful biscuit porcelain (see plate 31). Among the most notable plastic pieces were La Baigneuse and Les Amours by Falconet ; hunting groups by Oudry ; Pygmalion by Dura ; busts of the King and Madame Dubarry ; representations of royal events, such as the birth of the Dauphin ; figures after Boucher's sketches ; rustic scenes, theatrical personages, etc., by Pajou, Clodion, La Rue, Leclerc, Boizot and other first rate modellers, besides copies of Wedgwood's jasper- ware in blue and white biscuit. It was, however, realised that for all its surpassing beauty the soft-paste porcelain was too fragile and too costly for the wares of ordinary use or for the manu- facture of large pieces ; and experiments were made to master the secrets of hard-paste. But it was not till the accidental discovery of the kaolin beds at St Yrieix, near Limoges, that the movement was success- ful. This event took place in 1768, and Macquer, the Sevres chemist, immediately turned it to account. The soft-paste, however, continued to be made for some time, and it was not finally abandoned till Brogniart became director in 1800. Unsuccessful attempts to revive it took place between 1850 and 1870, and quite recently a tolerable substitute was 155 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN found in a modified hard-paste body with a soft glaze. The Sevres factory continued to work during the Revolution, but those troublous times are reflected in its productions ; and though it was ably carried on in the Empire period under Brogniart's administration of forty-three years, the prevailing taste, which strove after vases of exaggerated size, and decoration that rivalled oil-paintings, was not calculated to produce works in any way comparable with the beautiful pate tendre of the previous century. The factory, however, has always taken the lead in the French ceramic industry, and there are important modern developments, too numerous and too recent to be chronicled here, not least among them being the pate sur pate decoration which Mr. L. Solon has since perfected in this country at Minton's works at Stoke-upon-Trent. It is only to be expected that porcelain of such beauty and such value as Sevres pate tendre, should have been imitated by all means, both fair and foul. To pass over the frank reproductions of such firms as Minton's, Derby, and Coalport, and Randall's works at Madeley, the market is full of more or less clever copies of the old ware deliberately made with intent to deceive. The most insidious of these are actual specimens of Sevres make which have been subse- quently doctored by removing the original decoration, when of a simple nature, and adding rich ground- colours'and elaborate painting. The peculiar nature of the Sevres ware lends itself to this form of truquage, the paste being so absorbent and consequently retaining so much of the glazing fluid that at the subsequent firing enough of the original glaze melts out from 156 PLATE 30. SEVRES PATE TENDRE. VASE WITH BLEU DE ROI GROUND : PAINTED BY MORIN : GILDING BY GUAY : 1780. (JONES COLL. V. & A.M. No. 781). THE PHOTOGRAPH HAS FAILED TO RENDER THE DARK BLUE OF THE GROUND. SEVRES the body to conceal any signs of defacement that may have occurred in the fraudulent processes. Moreover, a first rate opportunity for fraud was offered in 1804, when Brogniart ordered all the stock of undecorated pate tendre to be sold off at nominal prices. Naturally these pieces passed into the hands of the chambrelans and were afterwards put on the market with the most costly kinds of decoration added. There are, however, ways of detecting even the cleverest of these frauds. A careful study of the marks which always appear on Sevres wares, including not only the factory-mark and date-letter, but also the sign of one or more of the decorators (fig. 116), will often be of great use; for the forger, as often as not, blunders in one of these details. Another important test is the presence of chrome-green in bouquets and landscapes. This colour was discovered in 1802, and very soon came into universal use ; compared with the old copper- green, it is yellower and warmer in tone, and lacking in the metallic (often iridescent) appearance of the old thickly-painted enamel, which resembles the lustrous green of the Chinese famille verte porcelain. The gilding again tells its tale ; for the old gilding is always matt or dull in tone, and laid on thickly ; and the chasing being done with a rough metal point (instead of the modern agate burnisher) shows the trace of the sharp edges of the tool. A simple means of detecting certain later frauds where gilt decoration has been removed and colours substituted, is the mark which on gilt pieces of high quality is usually accom- panied by the words dore a Sevres, while the painted wares are inscribed decor e a Sevres. It is unnecessary 157 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN to add that these refinements will be of little use unless the collector has that thorough familiarity with the quality of Sevres paste and glaze, which only comes from studying good examples. The mark from the first was the royal cypher, the double L (fig. 117). A letter denoting the year was added in 1753, beginning with A and reaching Z in 1776 (fig. 118). After this the letter was doubled 2000 KIC Fig. 116. RE Fig. 117. de Se evres. SS k Fig. 119. cle Sevres Fig. 120. Fig. 121. (see fig. 116), A A marking the year 1777 and so on to R R (1793). In Republican times the royal cypher was replaced by R F, and various signs l were used for the year up to 1817 (fig. 119). From 1804-1809 a stencilled mark " M. Imple de Sevres " was used (fig. 120), and later changes of government have been indicated by appropriate marks, the royal cypher being used under the restoration (fig. 121) ; the date was added in numerals (in full or the last two figures 1 See p. 164. 158 PLATE 31. SEVRES PATE TENDRE. BISCUIT GROUP; Two NYMPHS AND A SWAN : AFTER FALCONET. (V. & A.M. No. 382.) SEVRES only) from 1817 onwards. In 1848 an oval mark, containing the letter S and the last two figures of the date of manufacture, was introduced : a notch was cut into this mark on defective pieces. Finally, porcelain destined for the royal residences was often marked with the name of the palace or chateau, e.g. Chateau de St. Cloud, C. H. Dreux, etc., usually surmounted with the royal crown. 159 Marks and Monograms of the Painters, Decorators, and Gilders at Sevres from 1753 to iSoo1 ,£i! .dfonc/e. Birds, Animals, Attributes. t. Binet. Detached Bouquets. ££* ^4nZetmme. Landscapes, Animals. c/% Binet, Mdme. Flowers. A:~A. Asselin. Miniature portraits. <^ Boucher. Flowers, Wreaths. ^ Aubert, the elder. Flowers. -m t> Bunel, Mdme. N6e Manon Buteux. Flowers. v A Becquet. Flowers. V Buteux, Sen. Flowers, Attributes. 6. Bertrand. Detached Bouquets. 5 Buteux, elder son. Detached Bouquets. * Bienfait. Gilding. /^ Buteux, younger son. Children, Rustic Subjects. 1 From French Pottery, by Paul Gasnault and Edouard Garnier, South Kensington Art Handbooks Series. 160 SEVRES MARKS AND MONOGRAMS z^ Capelle. Friezes. Cr (7/iwZo«. Attributes, Flowers. ? Cardm. Detached Bouquets. t.m. CommeZin. Bouquets, Wreaths. £ Carrier. Flowers. ;• Cornaille. Flowers, Bouquets. £ Castel. Landscapes, Hunting Scenes, Birds. c Couturier. Gilding. * Caton. Children, Portraits. A .Di'ew. Chinese subjects, Gilding. 5S Catrice. Flowers, Detached Bouquets. K Dodin. Figures, Portraits. M Chabry. Miniature Painting. JA Drand. Chinese Figures, Gilding. 7-2 Chanon, Mdme. Nee Julie Durosey. Flowers. ^ Dubois. Flowers, Garlands. ^^ Chapuis, the elder. Flowers, Birds, etc. £ Dusolle. Detached Bouquets. V Chapuis, the younger. Detached Bouquets. D.T. Dutanda. Flowers, Garlands. § Chauvaux, Sen. Gilding. >^ Evans. Birds, Landscapes. /* Chauvaux, Jun. Bouquets, Gilding. F Falot. Arabesques, Birds. 1 Chevalier. Flowers, Bouquets. • • • • • Fontaine. Attributes, Miniature Painting. %,», /f De Choisy. Flowers, Arabesques. S> Fontellian. Gilding. 161 M CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN Y Foure. Flowers, Bouquets. ^ HOien. Figures, Pastoral Subjects. W Pritteh. Figures, Children. H Houry. Flowers. u "" H Fumez. Detached Bouquets. £ Huny. Flowers, Bouquets. ^g? Oauthier. Landscapes, Animals. ^ Joyau. Flowers, Bouquets. ff Genest. Figures, Genre Subjects. / Jubin. Gilding. f Genin. Flowers, Garlands. £ au. .IX La Roche. Flowers, Attributes. £^ Gerard. Pastoral Subjects. £ Le Bel, the elder. Flowers, Figures. r< Gerard, Mdme. Nee Vautrin, Flowers. •<<«, Le Bel, the younger. Bouquets, Garlands. A Girard. Chinese Figures, Arabesques. *4t« f Leandre. Pastoral Subjects. ^5^ Gomery. Flowers, Birds. LI Lecot. Chinese Subjects. ££ Gremont. Flowers, Garlands. \s Ledoux. Landscapes, Birds. X Orison. Gilding. *9 Le Guay. Gilding. /* Henrion. Flowers, Garlands. s I Leguay. Children, Chinese Subjects. JlC Hericourt. Flowers, Garlands. j: Ou J, Leve, Sen. Flowers, Birds, Attributes. 162 SEVRES MARKS AND MONOGRAMS y Leve, Felix. Flowers, Chinese Subjects. •y Parpette. Flowers, Bouquets. jw Maqueret, Mdme. Nee Bouillat. Flowers. S.f. Parpette, Mdlle. L. Flowers. Jvi Massy. Flowers, Garlands. 7* Pa/OM. Figures. S Merault the elder. Frieze, Ornaments. P.T. Petit. Flowers. •9 Merault, the younger. Flowers, Garlands. / P/eiffer. Bouquets. X Micaud. Flowers, Cartouches. ^* Pierre, the elder. Flowers, Bouquets. -m Michel. Detached Bouquets. ^ Pierre, the younger. Bouquets, Garlands. JM. Moiron. Detached Bouquets. PH Philippine, the elder. Children, Genre Subjects. f Mongenot. Flowers, Bouquets. £r Pithou, the elder. Portraits, Historical Subjects. -p Morin. Sea Pieces, Military Subjects. />• Pithou, the younger. Figures, Flowers, Ornaments. A Mutel. Landscapes. Q Pouillot. Detached Bouquets. If Niquet. Detached Bouquets. HP Prevost. Gilding. =£= Noel. Flowers, Ornaments. Q... Raux. Detached Bouquets. ^r Nouailhier, Mdme. Ne'e S. Durosey. Flowers. 30( Rocher. Figures. 163 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN s* Roaset. Landscapes. • • « 0 Theodore. Gilding. O.J Rouaael. Detached Bouquets. J Thevenet, Sen. Flowers, Cartouches, Groups. J.-il Schradre. Birds, Landscapes. I* Thevenet, Jun. Ornaments, Friezes. **. l£ •pe Sinsaon. Flowers, Garlands, Bouquets. \D Vaude. Gilding, Flowers. .•• :•: •.• Sioux, the elder. Flowers, Garlands. ^7 Vavasseur. Arabesques. o Sioux, the younger. Flowers, Garlands. £tt Vieillard. Attributes, Orna- ments. 0 Tabary. Birds. 2.000 Vincent. Gilding. & Taillandier. Bouquets, Garlands. ¥ Xrowet. Flowers, Arabesques. 0 • * Taudart. Groups of Flowers, Garlands. 1 Yvernel. Landscapes, Birds. ^ Tardi. Detached Bouquets. Sevres date-marks from 1801-1817. T. 9. Year IX. 1801 -//- 1805 9 1809 dz 1812 qn 1815 X. „ X. 1802 A 1806 10 1810 tz 1813 sz 1816 II „ XL 1803 7 1807 oz 1811 qz 1814 ds 1817 £: 1804 8 1808 164 CHAPTER XVII True-porcelain Factories in France THE French factories besides Sevres at which hard-paste or true porcelain was made in the eighteenth century may be briefly enumerated : — Strasburg. — Charles Fra^ois Hannong assisted by Wackenfeld, a German arcanist, began the manu- facture of true porcelain here at his faience factory in 1721. On his death in 1739 his sons, Paul Antoine and Balthasar, continued the work, the success of which offended the monopolists of Vincennes. In 1758 Han- nong offered to sell his secret to the royal factory, but the negotiations proved abortive, and two years later, as we have seen, he moved to Frankenthal. He returned to Strasburg, however, and died there in 1760, committing his works to the care of his son Pierre Antoine, his eldest son, Joseph Adam, having been left in charge at Frankenthal. The Strasburg works continued till 1780, though the Hannongs seem to have travelled far afield with their secret, appearing in Vincennes, Paris and in Italy. Strasburg porcelain is hard and glassy, with a thick glaze of greenish tint ; the shapes are somewhat stiff, but the painting is good, 165 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN enamelled flowers being a speciality. The marks seem to have consisted of monograms of the various Han- nongs, as in the first part of fig. 122 (the other letters being perhaps the initials of H Valentin Gusi). Niderwiller, near Stras- burg. — Porcelain was first made here in 1765 with help Meissen workmen at Baron J. L. de Beyerle's •^T***122 * faience factory. The works were owned from 1780-1793 by the Comte de Custine, who appointed Frangois Lanfrey director, and during this Fie 123 period fine biscuit figures were made by Lemire, and Cyffle ; the mark under the Comte de Custine was a double C under a coronet often mistaken for the Ludwigsburg mark (fig. 123). Orleans. — A few specimens of soft-paste marked with a crowned 0 are traced to the faience factory started at Orleans in 1753. Hard-paste was made here by Gerault in 1764, the mark consisting of an heraldic label, with or without a fleur de lys, taken perhaps from the arms of the Due d' Orleans (fig. 124). Marseilles. — The fa'iencier, Joseph Robert, added true porcelain to his productions about 1770 ; the ware was good and beautifully painted with mono- chrome landscapes and enamelled flowers and bouquets. The mark is a monogram of J R. Etiolles, lie de France. — A small factory was founded here by Monnier in 1768, and both hard and soft porcelain were made, marked at first with the mono- 166 TRUE-PORCELAIN FACTORIES IN FRANCE gram of M & P, and afterwards with the name of Pelleve (fig. 125). Paris. — When the privileges of Sevres were relaxed factories sprang up as if by magic in Paris and the neighbourhood, many being taken under the patronage of members of the royal family. A fine hard porcelain was the general rule, and the painting was good, particularly the monochromes in grey and sepia ; but the best period of French ceramics was over, and the cold influences of the neo-classical taste were already felt. Heavy gilding took the place of brilliant colours Fig. 124. Fig. 125. and the tiny flowers, which formerly were used chiefly to cover defects in the glaze, were now made a principal motive of decoration, as in the pattern a barbeaux which consists of sprigs of cornflower sym- metrically spread over the surface (plate 32, fig. 3). Among the plastic works fine biscuit figures were conspicuous. As early as 1758 and again in 1764 a few experi- mental pieces (signed B L) had been made by the Comte de Brancas-Lauraguais, who also worked for a short time in England ; but the chief Paris factories may be said to consist of the following : — Faubourg St. Lazare, founded in 1769 by Pierre 167 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN Antoine Hannong, and afterwards under the protection of the Comte d'Artois : marks, h and C P under a coronet (fig. 126 and 127). Rue de la Roquette, founded by Souroux in 1773 ; mark, S. De la Courtille, Rue Fontaine-au-Roi, founded by J. B. Locre in 1773, and at one time called "Manu- facture de Porcelain Allemande." The ware was of high quality and in the Meissen style, and the mark was at first two crossed torches, afterwards two ears of corn (fig. 128). Russinger became a partner in 1784 and afterwards sole proprietor. Rue de Reuilly, founded by Lassia in 1774 ; mark L. Clignancourt, founded in 1775 by Pierre Deruelle, and afterwards under the protection of Monsieur, the King's brother, Louis Stanislas Xavier, Comte de Provence. The ware made here is the most perfect of all the Paris porcelains. Marks, a windmill (in allusion to the windmills of Montmartre where the village of Clignancourt stands), M under a coronet for Monsieur, and a monogram of the prince's initials (fig. 129 and 130). Rue du Petit Carrousel, founded 1775 ; mark, P C G and name of the factory. Rue Thiroux, founded in 1778 by A. M. Leboeuf. The ware was good and finely decorated ; and the factory enjoyed the patronage of Marie- Antoinette, whence the name porcelaine a la reine. A favourite pattern consists of small corn-flower sprigs delicately painted. Marks, A with or without a crown (fig. 131), and in the early part of the nineteenth century the l68 TRUE-PORCELAIN FACTORIES IN FRANCE name of the factory and initials of the partners Guy and Housel. Rue de Bondy, founded in 1780 by Guerhard and Dihl under patronage of the Due d'Angouleme. The ware is good and well painted ; and the marks are the name, or cypher, of the Due (fig. 132) or the names of the proprietors (fig. 133). Rue de Popincourt, founded by Lemaire in 1780, and brought by Nast in 1783 ; mark, the name of the latter (fig. 134). Pont aux Choux, started in 1784 by de Villiers in the Rue des Boulets, and subsequently transferred to the Pont aux Choux quarter ; it was placed under the patronage of Louis Philippe Joseph, Due d'Orleans, in 1784, whose cypher was used as a mark till the Revo- lution, when the name of the factory was substituted. Barriere de Reuilly, founded by H. F. Chanon in 1754 ; mark, C H. Rue de Crussol, founded in 1789 by Potter, an Englishman, who called the factory Manufacture du Prince de Galles ; mark, Potter's name or initials. Belleville, founded in 1790 by Jacob Petit ; mark, his initials (fig. 135). In the early part of the nineteenth century the com- petition of the provincial factories, such as Limoges, where the kaolin could be obtained on the spot, practically extinguished the production at the Paris factories, though a large quantity of the provincial porcelain was sent to the capital for decoration. Other French hard-paste factories of minor im- portance were established at : Bordeaux by Ver- neullle in 1770, mark V V ; Boisette, near Melun, by 169 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN Vermonet in 1777, mark, fig. 136 ; Lille by Leperre- Durot in 1784, lasting till 1817, and under the pro- tection of the Dauphin whose emblem, a crowned dolphin, was used as a mark ; it was the first factory to employ coal as fuel in place of wood, a feat which Fig. 128. Fig. 129- Fig. 130. Fig. 131. llixSt a perns Fig. 132. MANUFRE deMM Guertiarrl et DihlaParis Fig. 133. Fig. 134. Fig. 135. Fig. 136. Fig. 137. was accomplished in the year 1785 ; Valenciennes, by Fauquez in 1785, who sold it to his brother-in-law, Lamoninary ; porcelain of high quality, including good biscuit figures, was made here, the mark being V L variously combined (fig. 137) ; Vincennes, by Lemaire in 1786, under protection of Louis Philippe, Due de Chartres, and directed by Hannong : mark two tobacco pipes crossed with the letter H ; Choisy-le-Roi in 1785, and Caen in 1798, the marks of the last two unim- portant factories being the place names. 170 5 Z . - D Ul vO O r-> w .. S Sll CHAPTER XVIII Italy IT has already been mentioned that porcelain of the artificial kind was made at Venice in 1519 and at Ferrara under Alfonso II about 1575, though nothing remains except the bare records of these undertakings. Florence We are more fortunate, however, in possessing a few actual specimens of the porcelain made at Florence under the patronage of Francesco Maria, second Grand Duke of Tuscany, who died in 1587. This ware, which is a hybrid composition of kaolin, quartz and glassy frit, is decorated in blue under the glaze either with arab- esques in Italian style or with floral designs (plate 33, fig. 1) including animal figures in Persian taste. The marks were (1) the six bezants (or discs) from the Medici arms, sometimes accompanied by the ducal cypher, and (2) a drawing of the cupola of Cathedral of Florence (fig. 138). There are some fine specimens of this rare and short-lived manufacture in 171 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN the Victoria and Albert Museum, besides two in the British Museum. Venice The secret of the Medici porcelain seems to have been well kept, for the next recorded attempt to make porcelain in Italy did not occur till 1719 when Francesco Vezzi and others, assisted by Saxon workmen, started a true-porcelain factory at Venice with German materials. Hunger, who had helped in the founding of the Viennese works, appears to have been at Venice from 1720 to 1725 and to have had a hand in the enterprise. The ware was glassy and translucent, but less white than that of Meissen, and the decoration consisted mainly of Chinese subjects, foliated scroll- work, and small landscapes with sea and river views in enamels and gold, or black and gold. The factory lasted till 17 40 and the mark was an abbreviated form of the name of the city, Venezia (fig. 139). Another factory, founded by the Saxon Hewelche and his wife, Fig. 139. lasted only from 1758-63, the mark being V. And a third factory, started by Geminiano Cozzi, lasted from 1764- 1812 ; the ware, which contained clay from Vicenza, consisted largely of tea and coffee services, and statuettes glazed or in biscuit ; it was remarkable for peculiarly fine gilding done with pure gold, and the mark was an anchor in red (fig. 140). 172 DOCCIA Doccia The Marchese Carlo Ginori commenced experiments at Doccia, five miles from Florence, in 1735, and two years later, with the help of Carl Wandhelein of Vienna, succeeded in making a good porcelain. The works have been continued by the Ginori family to the present day. The early ware was a hybrid porcelain, such as was commonly made in Italy, but later on true porcelain was produced with French materials. The moulded designs on Oriental white ware, Etruscan decorations, and Sevres patterns were copied in turn (plate 33, fig. 2) ; and some well modelled figures were made. About the middle of the nineteenth century the old Capo di Monte moulds were acquired, and since then clever copies of that ware with figure subjects, etc., in high relief, have been made ; they are, however, to be distinguished from the originals by their hard-paste, heavier technique, and inferior colouring. No general mark was used, though fig. 141 occurs on a cup and saucer in the Franks Collection, and two triangles crossed are attributed by some writers to Doccia. Le Nove At Le Nove, near Bassano and formerly in Venetian territory, porcelain was made in 1762 at the maiolica factory by Pasquale Antonibon. The ware was soft- paste, and of good quality, and included some well- modelled figures. The manufacture ceased about 1825. Mark, a star, sometimes accompanied by the name of a proprietor or artist (fig. 142). 173 CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN Treviso Another factory in Venetian territory was founded by the Fontebasso family towards the end of the eighteenth century ; a hybrid soft-paste ware was made, and marked with the name of the place and the initials of the makers (fig. 143). Vinovo The factory at Vinovo, near Turin, was started in 1776 by Brodel, assisted by Pierre Antoine Hannong, of Strasburg, and, after a few years of unsuccessful work, passed into the hands of Dr. Gioanetti who died N.S. Fig. 141. Fig. 142. cJreiwc Fig. 143. Fig. 144. in 1815. The ware is a hybrid porcelain, containing silicate of magnesia, and has a yellowish waxen ap- pearance (plate 35, fig. 1). The mark is a cross accompanied by a V, and, later on, the initials of Dr. Gioanetti (fig. 144). 174 §25 a r £x £ o w w c it? w w <• CAPO DI MONTE Rome The works founded by G. Volpato at Rome in 1790 are chiefly noted for biscuit figures, after Canova and other sculptors, and often signed G. Volpato, Roma. Volpato died in 1803 and the works were closed about 1830. Capo di Monte (Naples) The famous factory at Capo di Monte, near Naples, was started in 1743 by Charles Bourbon, Duke of Parma, who became King of Naples and Sicily in 1735 ; his wife, the Princess Amelia of Saxony, no doubt helped to stimulate his enthusiasm for porcelain, and he is said to have worked in the factory with his own hands. The ware was a very beautiful soft-paste porcelain, chiefly consisting of vessels moulded in the form of shells with adjuncts copied from the coral and sea-weed of the neighbouring shore, good figures fully coloured and often distinguishable by having the flesh tints stippled as in a miniature (plate 33, fig. 3), and exquisite tea and coffee services with figure-subjects in high relief (plate 34, fig. 3), which were afterwards successfully copied at Doccia and Herend. A room in the palace at Portici was lined with plaques of this fine moulded ware. In 1759 Charles succeeded to the throne of Spain, and took with him the best workmen to his new factory at Buen Retiro, by Madrid ; the factory at Capo di Monte was partially destroyed on his departure, but under his son Ferdinand it was re-established at Portici and subsequently removed to Naples. The 175 CONTINENTAL fORCELAlN style of the ware, however, was changed and classical forms and decoration were largely used, besides figures in native costume and views of local scenery on the painted wares. A fine service was made in 1787 for George III. of England, and decorated with yAy pictures of antique vases in the Neapolitan N Museum. The factory was turned over to a company in 1807 and came to an end in Fig. 145. 1834 The early wares were perhaps marked with a fleur de lys, but as this mark was used at Buen Retiro, there is considerable Fig. 146. uncertainty about it. After the removals to Portici and Naples, the factory-mark was a crowned N, painted or impressed, as well as the crowned cypher of King Ferdinand (figs. 145 and 146). Spain and Portugal It has already been mentioned that the factory of Buen Retiro, near Madrid, was started by Charles III., previously King of Naples, who brought with him a large number of the best workmen from Capo di Monte. The works were in operation in 1760 under the direction of Bonicelli ; but great secrecy prevailed, and the wares were reserved for royal use. The porcelain was soft- paste of superior quality in the Capo di Monte style, though copies of Wedgwood's blue and white jasper- ware were also produced. Among the most notable works were large vases, some of them six feet high, filled with porcelain flowers, and the panels which lined a room at Aranjuez, covered with figures in high 176 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL relief and modelled by Gricci ; another room in the palace at Madrid was similarly decorated, the figures in this case being chiefly groups of children. In 1789 the ware was first offered to the public, on the death of Charles III., but the prices were prohibitively high and specimens are rare even in Spain (plate 35, figs. 2 and 3). The later ware was a harder porcelain, and like the hybrid paste of Vinovo, contained a large proportion of silicate of magnesia. The factory ceased work in 1808. The usual factory mark was a fleur de lys in blue (fig. 147) ; it is probable that the double C with a small o was only a workman's mark (fig. 148.) There was an unimportant factory at Alcora in the last part of the eighteenth century, at which figures seem to have been a speciality. In Portugal the factory at Vista Alegre, near Oporto, was started in 1790, and the mark is V.A. with or without a crown (fig. 149). \TA. Fig. 147. Fig. 148. Fig. 149. 177 N CHAPTER XIX British porcelain THOUGH little is known of English porcelain before the middle of the eighteenth century, there is no lack of literary evidence to show that spirited attempts to master the secrets of the manufacture had already been made on this side of the Channel. Dwight, the brilliant potter of Fulham, actually claimed to have solved the mystery in 1671, but it is unlikely that his productions were anything more than fine white stone- ware. Francis Place of York, and after him one Clifton of Pontefract, appear to have made similar experiments at the beginning of the next century with equally uncertain results. An essay published in 1716 recom- mends the strange, but quite feasible, method of making a porcelain body by grinding up broken oriental china, and mixing the powder with " a fourth part of its weight of quicklime dissolved in gum- water " ; and curiously enough we read that as late as 1764 there actually was a factory at work near London at which eleven mills were employed to grind up " pieces of Eastern china " for the paste. It is not necessary to assume, and indeed it is highly unlikely, that the factory in question was that of Bow, for no less than seven 178 EARLY FACTORIES separate attempts at porcelain making in the Metro- politan district can be traced, exclusive of Chelsea and Bow. Such are, the factory at Limehouse, which failed before 1750 ; that of Greenwich, mentioned in 1747 ; others at Stepney, Stratford, Lambeth and Battersea, all of which no doubt came to an end from lack of means to carry through their experiments. For, unlike the majority of the successful continental works, the English porcelain factories developed from private enterprise, unsupported by princely subsidies ; though an exception should perhaps be made of the Chelsea factory which is said to have been for a time under the patronage of the Duke of Cumberland. Still it is hardly possible that all the results of these short- lived experiments have utterly perished, and those who have a shelf in their collections for early pieces of uncertain origin, may yet find that they have been entertaining a piece of Greenwich or Limehouse porcelain unawares. Turning to the better known factories, the majority, including Bow, Chelsea, Derby and Worcester, seem to have been founded between the years 1740-60, and there is little doubt that tthis sudden and success- ful outburst of ceramic activity was due to the arrival of " arcanists " from the Continent. The nature of the early English ware leaves little doubt that the inspiration came from one of the French factories. It was in fact a glassy artificial frit porcelain, closely resembling that made at St. Cloud, and Mennecy, and the ingredients must have been of a similar nature to those described in the chapter on Sevres pate tendre. The difficulties of manufacture and the cost of such a 179 BRITISH PORCELAIN ware would be enough to account for the failure of so many of the little known factories in the neighbour- hood of London ; and indeed the history of the success- ful works shows that much ingenuity was expended on strengthening the porcelain and making it more practicable. The use of bone-ash, which has become quite a distinguishing feature of English porcelain, began about 1750, and various expedients, determined largely by local circumstances, were employed in the provincial factories. Thus the Cornish steatite was used in the early Bristol porcelain, as well as at Wor- cester and Liverpool ; and the discovery of materials corresponding to the Chinese kaolin and petuntse in Cornwall led to the manufacture of true porcelain at Plymouth and afterwards at Bristol. These two fac- tories, however, were of short duration, and the English porcelain continued to develop on artificial lines, until about 1800, when fritted bodies were abandoned and the formula for the modern English bone china was practically settled by the younger Spode at Stoke-upon- Trent. This ware, which is now made generally throughout the country, consists mainly of kaolin, bone- ash, and felspar, and has been aptly called natural soft-paste : it is a compromise between true porcelain and the old pate tendre, combining the durability of the former with the softer and more beautiful glaze of the latter. From the collector's point of view, however, the interest of the ware centres in the varied produc, tions of the experimental period before the individuality of the various creations had become merged in a technic- ally perfect, but monotonously uniform porcelain. Little originality can be claimed for the form and 1 80 DECORATION decoration of English porcelain. The shapes were inspired in turn by oriental, Saxon and French models, the nearest approach to indigenous forms being those of the early moulded pieces which were copied from contemporary silver work. The decoration passed through the usual phases, the ware being first pure white with slight reliefs : painting in blue, under the glaze, in Chinese style and in enamel colours after Kakiemon's Japanese designs followed : blisters and flaws in the glaze, which occurred only too frequently in the early porcelains, were concealed by painted in- sects or small flowers, and another feature of the period was brown edges, which were afterwards replaced by gilding. Next came the Meissen style with its scattered flowers, birds, insects, and slight landscapes with raised scroll-work, together with applied flowers in full relief and the frills, scrolls and shell-work of the early rococo taste. At this stage a whole-hearted imitation of the rich Vincennes and Sevres models began ; and fine ground colours, broken by gilt-edged panels with exotic birds, bouquets of flowers, animals, and figure- subjects after Watteau, Boucher and others, distinguish the most splendid period of the art. The statuettes and groups which from the first formed an important feature of the manufacture, were largely borrowed from the spirited Meissen models of Kandler, Acier and their colleagues ; but there was a considerable number of original figures copied from contemporary portraits, pictures and sculpture, of royal and noble personages, soldiers, politicians, actors, etc., and trans- lated into clay by first-rate English sculptors. About 1780 neo-classical influences succeeded, and more 181 BRITISH PORCELAIN formal shapes, over-elaborate painting and tasteless display of gilding became the order of the day. After this came the general decadence that marked the early years of the nineteenth century, in which inferior colouring, mechanical methods and bad taste combined to degrade the ware, the only redeeming feature being a return to Japanese models in what are known as the Derby- Japan patterns. No serious revival took place till about the middle of the century, and any attempt to follow the modern developments in a work of this scope would be both impolitic and impracticable. The gilding is a feature of the old porcelains that must not be overlooked : on the earliest wares it was scarcely used at all, then it was timidly employed in the Japan and Meissen patterns, and under the Sevres influences it was lavishly but tastefully applied and often chased with a metal point (au clou). But all the old gilding is distinguished by its rich matt surface which looks like pure gold unalloyed. About 1780-90 cheaper methods began to be employed and the gilding became thinner and more brassy in appearance, and though it was often used to excess the effect is generally more gaudy than rich. The only original English decoration, transfer-printing, was introduced about 1750, and largely used on Bow, Liverpool and Wor- cester porcelains ; but though it proved commercially an undoubted success, it cannot be said to have added greatly to the artistic charm of the ware, however much we may admire the skilful line engravings on the old Worcester services. The value of marks on porcelain of all kinds is easily over-estimated. They should be regarded as useful 183 MARKS subsidiary evidence and little else ; for they can be readily copied for fraudulent purposes, especially when painted on the glaze or gilt, and even the old potters made free with the marks of other factories besides their own — both English and foreign. The safest guide to the classification of the various wares is the paste and glaze : certain characteristic colours and the mannerisms of a few well-known painters will also be of use, but it must be remembered here as elsewhere that the chambrelan, or outside enameller, played a considerable part in the porcelain decoration at all periods. 183 CHAPTER XX Bow THE tradition which dates the beginning of the Bow factory as early as 1730, has so far failed to find support, and we must regard the patent applied for in 17 44 by Edward Heyleyn and Thomas Frye, the well-known engraver and portrait painter, as the first evidence of any attempt at porcelain-making in the district. It would seem that this factory started like several others at a glasshouse, and that Frye's first patent protected an experimental ware which was abandoned four years later in favour of a composition containing lime or bone-ash as specified in a second patent in 1748. Frye was manager until 1759, three years before his death, and the business seems to have been owned by Weatherby and J. Crowther from 1750- 62, from which time it was carried on in a desultory manner, probably by Crowther, till 1776. The works were then bought up by W. Duesbury of Derby, who transferred the plant to the midland town. The site of the works in Bell Road, St. Leonard St., Bromley-by-Bow, was determined in 1868 by the discovery of part of a kiln, together with a number o^ moulds, wasters and fragments of the ware. From a 184 M pq BOW document accompanying the famous Bow bowl in the British Museum we learn that the design of the factory was taken from Canton, a fact which explains the inscriptions on certain well-known ink-pots, e.g.— MADE AT NEW CANTON, 1750. These sources of information are supplemented by important papers left by John Bowcocke, who was clerk and traveller for the factory from about 1750, and died in 1763. The early ware appears to have been issued in the white and can scarcely be distinguished from that of Chelsea, the same models being used in some cases at both factories (plate 37). The inkpot just men- tioned as dated 1750, is of a beautiful glassy frit porce- lain, with soft and luscious glaze : and a class of table wares, signed with what appears to be Frye's monogram, (fig. 150), shows similar qualities of paste and glaze, but being thinner in the wall it illustrates better the translucency of the ware at this time. The teapot illustrated in plate 36, fig. 3, belongs to the latter class. The Bow bowl painted by Thomas Craft about 1760 is of soft and creamy appearance, but almost opaque ; and a third type, exemplified by a plate1 made for Robert Crowther in 1770, is coarser in appearance, more opaque, and coated with a less pure glaze. These varieties will serve to show the changeful and experi- mental nature of the Bow ware, which is in this respect typical of the early English factories. It is, however, always of the artificial or soft-paste kind ; and a further feature is the glaze which, containing a large proportion of lead, shows a yellowish tinge where it has run thick, and is liable to become iridescent and I In the British Museum. 185 BRITISH PORCELAIN discoloured with age. The Bow factory seems to have catered for the tavern and the table more than for the drawing-room, and we may expect to find mugs, dishes, octagon plates, tea, coffee and dessert services of this ware rather than vases and cabinet specimens. More ornamental pieces, however, were made, but they are neither in quantity nor quality comparable with the Chelsea productions, which they clearly imitate. Perhaps an exception should be made in the case of figures, such as the large and admirably modelled statuettes of Britannia and the Marquis of Granby in the British Museum, as well as some of the spirited figures issued in the white, of which the cooks, male and female (attributed to Bacon), the statuettes of Kitty Clive and Woodward as the Fine Lady and Gentleman in Lethe, and the actors in Turkish costume, are favourable examples. To distinguish between Bow and Chelsea figures is not always an easy task, especi- ally where no decoration has been added. Bow figure painting, however, is, as a rule, inferior to that of Chelsea, and may be recognised by certain distinctive colours : these have been described by Mr. W. Burton as a dry sealing-wax red, a cold opaque enamel blue, and " a gold purple which, when strong, is barely tolerable : in thin washes it is distinctly unpleasant, as it becomes a pale mauve-pink hue." Moreover, the bases of the later Bow figures are, as a rule, more elaborate and worse proportioned than those of Chelsea, scroll- work and pierced designs of exaggerated form being not uncommon ; a hole at the back to receive a metal mount is thought to be peculiar to Bow. The ordinary ware was painted in blue under the 186 BOW glaze or over-glaze enamels (plate 36, fig. 2) ; some again was transfer-printed in red, black or, more rarely, in manganese purple. The blue-painting was chiefly in Chinese style and is seen at its best in the dainty vignettes on the teapot shown in plate 36, which are probably the work of Frye himself : the low relief ornament exemplified by this piece is common to Bow, Worcester and Lowestoft wares. The enamel painting was largely in the Kakiemon style, the " Old Japan taste," a pattern consisting of one or two birds of the quail or partridge family (plate 36, fig. 1) and a spray of bamboo or plum being frequently employed. A rich floral border in red and gold is usual on these pieces ; it is taken from a Japanese model, as are also the brown edges of the early table wares. The various decorations of the Dresden, Vincennes and Sevres porcelains were used to a limited extent and with no marked success ; and the only coloured ground that occurs at all frequently was a streaky gros bleu of milky appearance. Whether the printed decoration was accomplished at the Bow works or not, is a question of academic interest ; on the whole it seems likely that both the Bow and Chelsea printed ware was sent to the York House works at Battersea for this kind of decoration. The printing was occasionally done in outline only, and colours washed on with a brush, the results being sometimes neat and pleasing, at others rough and positively disfiguring. Gilding was little used on the early pieces, and though afterwards more freely applied, it never became a feature of the ware as at Chelsea and Worcester. Of the Bow workmen, the enamellers are little known ; they were at first drawn 187 BRITISH PORCELAIN from the fan-painting and japanning trades, but we read that in 1758 " several of the finest masters from Dresden " (the quotation is from an advertisement) were engaged there ! Among the modellers it is pro- bable that we should include John Bacon, afterwards R.A., as well as Moser, the keeper of the Royal Academy. The former seems to have worked for several of the china factories, including Chelsea, Derby, and for Josiah Wedgwood. T Fig. 150. Fig. 151. Fig. 152. Fig. 153. The best known Bow mark is an anchor, with or without a cable, accompanied by a dagger (perhaps from the arms of the City of London) (fig. 151) : this mark is found on the figure of a " fifer," the design for which is drawn on one of John Bowcocke's papers. Besides this are found an arrow with a ring on the shaft (fig. 152), a caduceus (fig. 153), the letter B impressed or painted, and the monogram of Thomas Frye, usually reversed (fig. 150). The last mark is also found on occasional pieces of Worcester porcelain, but there is overwhelming evidence of its Bow origin. Chelsea The origin of the famous Chelsea factory has been the subject of much speculation, but nothing is proved save that it was at work in 1745, being situated at the 1 88 z. < II sg lx II o =- « £ CHELSEA corner of Justice Walk and Lawrence Street. The earliest authenticated specimen is a milk- jug of the well-known " goat and bee " pattern (plate 37, fig. 2), bearing the incised legend Chelsea, 1745 ; and the nature of this piece, which is a very glassy and translucent soft-paste porcelain, suggests the work of a French "arcanist" from St. Cloud, Chantilly orMen- necy. Charles Gouyn was the first recorded manager, and he may have been the arcanist in question. He was succeeded in 1749 by Nicolas Sprimont, a French silver- smith, who had worked for some years in Soho. The story that the Duke of Cumberland subsidised the factory is wanting in proof, though it is certain that Sprimont enjoyed some measure of royal patronage. Under Sprimont's guidance the Chelsea works rapidly advanced to the front rank among European factories, but unfortunately the manager's health was not equal to his energy, and the work almost came to a standstill in 1758. The next year began with a period of renewed vigour and the factory was enlarged ; but again in 1761 Sprimont' s health gave way and two years later the business was offered for sale. It did not, however, find a purchaser till 1769, when the remainder of the lease was bought for the inconsiderable sum of £600 by Charles Cox, who in turn sold the works to Duesbury and Heath, of Derby, in the following year. Duesbury carried on the business till 1784, when the factory was dismantled, and the plant and workmen were removed to Derby. The Chelsea porcelain may be grouped in five chrono- logical divisions : — Period I. — The earliest, bearing a triangle- mark 189 BRITISH PORCELAIN incised as in fig. 154, has been described as "of a creamy paste, not unlike St. Cloud porcelain, with a satiny texture, very transparent body, often distorted in baking, and frequently left white." It consists chiefly of figures, and fancifully moulded table wares, such as the " goat and bee " milk-jug, mentioned above, shell salt-cellars supported by crayfish, and vessels with scalloped, strawberry-leaf, and floral designs, besides the " sprigged " pattern which consists of sprays of Chinese plum. The last-mentioned is common to early Bow and Chelsea. Gilding was not used, and the rare painted decoration was confined to touching the reliefs with colour, or throwing slight floral designs and insects on the plain surfaces. Of the earliest figures, a bust of the Duke of Cumberland, and quasi-Chinese groups in the Chippendale taste are best known. This ware was continued at least as late as 1751. Period II. — The ware was " thickly made, but of well composed paste " of sandy texture, with thick, unc- tuous glaze of creamy tint, the mark being an embossed anchor, sometimes outlined in red and applied on a small oval pad (figs. 155 and 156). Tea, coffee and table ware (often hexagonal or octagonal in form and painted with floral sprays), " Old Japan " patterns, and illustrations of ^Esop's fables, a few vases of simple Chinese forms and oriental decoration, and rare figures, such as " The Nurse " (after a well-known French model) were the chief components of this class, which was certainly in existence down to 1753 (plate 38). Period III. — It will be found that the wares of the various periods overlap one another, one class being perfected while the other was still in use. The ware 190 CHELSEA of the third period, which may be said to have begun with Sprimont's arrival, was a strengthened form of the second class, which it supplanted, thanks to its more practicable nature. It is usually marked with an anchor in red (figs. 157-9). A peculiarity of the porcelain of the second and third periods will be noticed on holding a specimen against a strong light, when " moons " or patches of greater translucency than the surrounding mass will be observed ; these are due to imperfect mixing of the glassy frit with the other components of the paste. With this period began the extensive production of pieces of every variety, table wares, rococo vases (plate 39, fig. 1), figures, and smaller objects, such as scent bottles, etuis, seals, pendants, toilet-boxes, etc. The painting was at first in the Meissen style (plate 40, fig. 1), scattered flowers, birds, insects, and small landscapes being most usual, in addition to moulded ornament, such as frills, scroll- and shell-work, and the applied flowers so common on old ornamental porcelain : gilding was still but sparingly used. Later the rich ground colours with panels containing Watteau groups, birds and bouquets, in a word, the Vincennes and Sevres taste, was adopted. Blue painting under the glaze was never practised to any extent at Chelsea, the reason being that Chelsea porcelain was unsuited for ordinary use and was almost confined to richly decorated ornamental pieces, in contrast with the more banal productions of Bow. In 1756 a sale by auction lasting sixteen days was held at Ford's rooms in the Haymarket, and the cata- logue, of which a few copies have survived, throws an interesting light on the Chelsea productions. On the 191 BRITISH PORCELAIN front page is the general announcement of the sale of " Magnificent Lustres and Epargnes, Services for Desarts, Sets of Dishes and Plates, Tureens and Sauce- boats, compleat Tea and Coffee Equipages, beautiful Groups of Figures, Sets of Jars and Beakers, and great variety of other useful and ornamental Porcelain, all exquisitely painted in Enamel, with Flowers, Birds, Insects, India Plants, etc." The table wares included sauce-boats and plates " silver shap'd," octagon plates with " mosaic borders and flowers " and others " of a fine old pattern, wheatsheaf and pheasant," dessert dishes in the form of various leaves — cabbage, vine, fig, artichoke, mulberry, etc. — and a number of vessels shaped after natural objects, such as lettuces, cauli- flowers, asparagus, pineapples, lemons, apples, etc., as well as tureens in the form of life-sized rabbits, swans, ducks, hens with chicken, boars' heads and partridges. The vases consisted mainly of jars, bottles, and beakers, mostly described as small, though one item specifies " A very large Beaker in a fine mazareen blue and marble ground richly ornamented with gold and enamel'd in flowers." Other examples are per- fume pots and basins in honeycomb pattern, flower pots, compotiers, ewers and basins, caudle cups with cover and stand, ice-pails, etc., besides a large number of figures and groups, most of which appear to have been copied from Meissen models. The third period may be said to end in 1758. Period IV. (1759-70). — The paste by this time was more settled in character ; the difficulties of warping, etc., had been overcome, and " moons " in the paste are no longer observable, but the ware is whiter and 192 CHELSEA has lost much of its soft creamy appearance. When perfectly fired, however, it is beautifully transparent and pure ; but often it appears underfired and conse- quently opaque, with a tendency to become " crazed " and discoloured. The merits and defects of the ware, however, are lost beneath the rich decoration. Ambi- tious vases in rococo forms, large figures, and luxurious table wares are decorated in the sumptuous Vincennes and Sevres taste, fine ground colours, richly chased gilding and elaborately painted panels, etc., being the order of the day. The ground colours for which Chelsea was justly celebrated, include a splendid gros bleu, of deep palpitating tone that has rarely been equalled in Europe (plate 40, fig. 2) ; (this is the " mazareen " blue mentioned first in the catalogue of 1756) ; " pea- green," first mentioned in 1759 : " claret," the special Chelsea version of " rose Pompadour," and turquoise, both first recorded in 1760. Rich gilding chased au clou in the Sevres style was now employed, the mark, an anchor, being usually in gold (fig. 160). Statuettes and groups were finely modelled and richly painted (plate 39, figs. 2 and 3) ; they include, besides the copies of Meissen work, original compositions by first-rate artists, such as the figures of Pitt, Wilkes and Conway. Roubiliac, and perhaps Bacon, were engaged to model occasional pieces, such as the charming group entitled " The Music Lesson " by the former, a fine example of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It consists of a youth teaching a girl to play the flute, the figures gracefully posed in affectionate attitudes within a bower of flowering hawthorn. But perhaps the daintest of all the modelled pieces are the " Chelsea 193 o BRITISH PORCELAIN toys," scent bottles, snuff-boxes, etuis, toilet-boxes, cane-handles, flowers, etc., exquisitely modelled and painted, and often bearing gallant inscriptions in French, which have evidently been written by workmen ill acquainted with the language. Little is known of the Chelsea painters, though they clearly included some first-rate men, and it is probable that Donaldson and O'Neale painted some of the finer vases. " A nursery of lads " was started by Sprimont, which no doubt did good service afterwards to the porcelain trade in general. The Chelsea painting and gilding is, as a rule, of a very high standard, the former almost always executed in enamel colours. A certain amount of Chinese porcelain was painted at Chelsea, one well-known service bearing illustrations of the story of Harlequin. Period V. (1770-84). — The year 1769 forms an inter- regnum during which the works were managed by one Francis Thomas, Sprimont's right-hand man. In the following year Duesbury, the manager of the Derby factory, took over the business, and what is known as the Derby-Chelsea period began. The character of the ware of both factories was modified by the influence of the other, and it is rarely possible to say whether a particular piece of this time was made at Derby or Chelsea. In form and ornament the Derby influence favoured the neo-classical taste, and the fanciful rococo shapes of the old Chelsea wares gave place to severer outlines matched with great restraint in colour and ornament. Small medallions set in a gold-striped ground, a blue of lapis-lazuli tint, reliefs and figures in unglazed biscuit, and lace-work in the Meissen style on 194 ^ G - in *-> N P t3 ^ o DERBY statuettes, now made their appearance, while the rich gros bleu, claret and other old ground colours vanished, or were only seen in thin washes, mere shadows of their former splendour. It must, however, be said that the restraining Derby influence is seen with the happiest effect on many of the tea-services of the time (plate 41, figs. 1 and 2). The marks, which were no doubt common Fig. 154 Fig. 156. Fig. 157. Fig. 158. + Fig. 159. Fig. 160. Fig. 161. Fig. 162. Fig. 163. to both the Derby and Chelsea factories, consisted of a combination of the Derby D and the Chelsea anchor (fig. 161), an anchor crowned (fig. 162), and a crowned D (fig. 163), though the old Chelsea anchor probably continued in use for at least a part of the period. Derby It is practically certain that the manufacture of porcelain on a small scale began at Derby about 1750, but nothing is known of the factory or its productions. In 1756 the celebrated " Derby Porcelain Manufac- tory " was started by William Duesbury, John Heath and possibly others in the Nottingham Road, beyond 195 BRITISH PORCELAIN St. Mary's Bridge ; Duesbury was the moving spirit in the work and the business seems to have passed en- tirely into his hands after the lapse of a few years. The factory was enlarged in 1758, and there is reason to suppose that the Longton Hall works, which closed about that time, were absorbed by it, as were those of Bow in 1776 and Chelsea in 1784. The skilled labour, trade secrets, materials, and moulds, acquired by this process of incorporation, added largely to the scope and productiveness of the Derby works, and the various sale notices dating from 1756 onwards give a record of steady progress and a large and diversified output, in which figures and " ornamental porcelain after the finest Dresden models " were conspicuous. William Duesbury died in 1786 after a life of energy and successful enterprise. The son of a Staffordshire leather- seller, he was born in 17 25 and was already working in London in 1742, where he soon established an extensive enamelling business. He returned to Staffordshire in 1754, only to move to Derby two years later, where he eventually became the most important porcelain manu- facturer in the country. He was succeeded at Derby by his son of the same name, who carried on the work till 1796-7. Michael Kean became partner in 1795, but left the works shortly afterwards, and a third William Duesbury took charge till 1810-11, when the factory was leased to Robert Bloor. When Bloor's intellect gave way in 1828, Thomason acted as manager till 1844, and Clarke from 1844-48. The factory was then sold to Boyle of Fenton, and the moulds were sub- sequently dispersed about the Potteries. A small establishment, however, was started in King Street by 196 a O g' <•; 1-1 .. O " DERBY some of the old Derby hands, and carried on successively by Locker : Stevenson, Sharpe & Co. : Stevenson & Samson Hancock : and finally by the last-mentioned alone. The present " Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Works " were founded in the Osmaston Road in 1876. The best period of the old Derby factory was reached under the direction of the second Duesbury, and its decline dates from Bloor's administration. The earliest wares, being unmarked, are practically unknown, but we may safely assume that they consisted of a glassy artificial porcelain. A change, no doubt, took place in 1764, when R. Holdship, of Worcester, undertook to explain the secret of the Worcester body and to supply " the soapy rock " (steatite) used in that composition. Greater strength and opacity would result from the addition of this ingredient, which imparts a faint greenish tint to the body. In 1770 bone-ash was intro- duced from Chelsea, and an examination of the ware of the Derby-Chelsea period shows a thin translucent body with soft lustrous satiny glaze, the whole having a greenish tint both to the eye and by transmitted light. Later the ware became harder and more earthy and opaque, losing much of its fine quality during the Bloor period. Besides the ordinary glazed porcelain, a beautiful biscuit body was made from 1770 to 1810, forming the material for some charming groups and statuettes (plate 41, fig. 3), besides being occasion- ally used in combination with glazed surfaces on vases and other ornamental pieces. The best biscuit was more than mere unglazed porcelain : it was a special composition, soft, waxen and translucent, sometimes " dry," and sometimes coated with a slight film of 197 BRITISH PORCELAIN glaze or " smear." Later the ordinary porcelain body was used, the fine quality of the ware vanished, and its secret was ultimately lost. An attempt to recover it about 1840 resulted in the discovery of the modern Parian ware. The decoration during the Derby-Chelsea period has been already discussed, and the period which followed was chiefly remarkable for table wares tastefully formed and painted with simple and appropriate patterns. Flower-painting was a special accomplishment of the Derby decorators, of whom Withers, Pegg and Billings- ley are perhaps the best known. The last-named gained a great reputation as a painter of roses, starting a new method in which the high lights were removed from the mass of colour with a dry brush. A softer and more rounded effect was obtained in this way than under the old Meissen and Chelsea system of building up the flower with successive strokes of the brush, of which Withers was perhaps the best exponent at Derby. At the close of the century landscapes were freely used, but unfortunately their limitations were not always recognised, and they appear inappropriately on all kinds of surfaces. The feature of the early nineteenth-century decorations, which were otherwise far from pleasing, are the " Derby Japan patterns," free and usually happy adaptations in bold colouring of the later class of Imari designs (plate 41, fig. 4) ; they became extremely popular and were widely imitated at the leading factories throughout the country. Of the ground colours during the finest period a lapis lazuli blue enamel, and a good canary yellow, were the most successful. DERBY As already stated, figures and groups were at all times a feature of the Derby porcelain, and their number and variety may be realised from the list of moulds at the factory on the death of the second Duesbury. This list, which is given in the exhaustive publications of Haslem and Bemrose, includes the moulds and models Fig. 164. Fig. 166. Fig. 167. Fig. 170. Fig. 169. Fig. 171. taken from the Bow and Chelsea works. References are occasionally made to the modellers, among whom were John Bacon, and the Swiss Spengler. Other prominent Derby modellers were Stephan and Coffee ; and at a later date, Edward and Samuel Keys, of whom the former modelled the "Dr. Syntax" series and the 199 BRITISH PORCELAIN latter the well-known figures of Liston as " Paul Pry " and Madame Vestris in " Buy a Broom." The first authenticated marks are those given in the Derby-Chelsea section (p. 195), the jewelled crown coming into use in 1773 (fig. 164). The Crown-Derby mark was completed about 1782 by the addition of the crossed staves and six dots to the crowned D (fig. 165) : it appears in various colours and gold, the latest being red. Other varieties include a monogram of D and K during the Duesbury and Kean period (fig. 166) : the name Bloor and a red printed mark, a black-letter capital D crowned, during the Bloor period (figs. 167 and 168). Fig. 169 was used at the King Street factory, the initials indicating Stevenson and Hancock, or Samson Hancock. On the figures, vases and biscuit wares the mark is usually incised and is often accom- panied by various letters and signs, such as N, the number of the model, the size of the piece (fig. 170), a letter, perhaps the modeller's initial, and a workman's mark, such as a star or triangle (fig. 171). Pattern numbers and sometimes the number of a painter or gilder appear on the enamelled wares.1 Longton Hall The earliest recorded attempt to make porcelain in Staffordshire was the experiments of William Littler, a stoneware potter of Brownhills, Tunstall. He after- wards removed to Longton Hall, and the first definite indication of progress was an advertisement in Arises Birmingham Gazette of July 27, 1752, offering "A large quantity, and great variety, of very good and 1 The Meissen crossed swords was sometimes used on figures. 200 gs < KH- a a h LONGTON HALL fine ornamental Porcelain or China Ware " for sale by William Littler and Co. Other advertisements ap- peared in 1757 and 1758, and after that nothing further is heard of the factory, which was probably absorbed by the Derby company. Littler's porcelain resembles Chelsea ware of the third period in form, decoration and general appearance, though the glaze is cold and glittering and lacking in the rich creamy tone of the metropolitan ware. Most of the authenti- cated pieces have a rough unfinished appearance ; the surface is uneven, the bases lumpy, and black specks, fire cracks and warping are frequent disfigurements. In spite of these defects the ware, which has only been identified of late years, is eagerly sought by collectors. A sale notice of 1757 gives some idea of its nature :— " Tureens, Covers and Dishes, large Cups and Covers, Jars and Beakers, with beautiful Sprigs of Flowers, open-work'd Fruit Baskets and Plates, Variety of Services for Deserts, Tea, and Coffee Equipages, Sauce Boats, leaf Basons and Plates, Melons, Colli- flowers, elegant Epargnes, and other ornamental and useful Porcelain both white and enamelPd." The features of the decoration are a brilliant blue of streaky mottled appearance, flower painting of a peculiar style, and gilding insecurely fixed and occasionally replaced by arabesques in Fi 172 white enamel (plate 42, fig. 3). The mark consists of two crossed L's, back to back, with a string of dots between (fig. 172). 201 CHAPTER XXI Worcester THE " Worcester Tonquin Manufacture " was started at Warmstry House in 1751 by a com- pany in which a Dr. Wall was the leading spirit. The secret of the porcelain, an artificial soft-paste of the glassy type, was tested and found satisfactory by Dr. Wall, and W. Davis, an apothecary who managed the practical part of the business till 1783. How the secret was learnt is not clear, and the old story which gives all the credit to Dr. Wall is no longer accepted without demur ; on the whole the " arcanist " is more likely to have been Davis, or one of the workmen, Podmore and Lyes, who assisted at the first experi- ments. A public sale was held in 1752 and a London warehouse opened four years later. Wall died in 1776, and in 1783 Thomas Flight, the London agent, bought the business for his two sons ; the following changes of ownership ensued : — 1783-1793. Joseph and John Flight. 1793-1807. Flight and Barr. 1807-1813. Flight, Barr and Barr. 1813-1829. Barr, Flight and Barr. 1829-1840. Barr and Barr. The factory is flourishing to-day as a Joint-Stock 202 Q Pi 3 Q la PQ -D ? 2 > WORCESTER Company, but its history after 1840 is too recent to be recorded here. The early Worcester porcelain varies considerably in appearance. It was, no doubt, at first largely composed of a glassy frit with pipeclay and other refractory materials of the usual kind ; in another class the frit was mixed with steatite, or Cornish soapstone, giving a harder and more opaque body which, coated with a proportionately hard glaze, produced the good imitation of Chinese egg-shell porcelain for which Worcester was justly noted ; and another class again contained bone-ash, which probably came into use at Worcester at an early period. No further radical changes were made till the end of the century, when Barr engaged in a series of experiments resulting in a bone body of the modern English type, which survives in a modified form at the present day. The old Worcester ware has usually a greenish tint to the eye, except when a pinch of cobalt blue has been added to the glaze to whiten it, as was usually done on the ware destined for " blue and white " decoration ; when held against a strong light, it almost invariably shows a greenish tinge. The glaze which is soft and lustrous, combines perfectly with the body, " crazing " being practically unknown ; it has, however, the peculiarity of stopping short of the foot rim under the base and leaving a narrow space more or less dry of glaze at that point. Finally the ware can almost always be recognised by its beautiful potting and pre-eminent neatness of finish. A representative collection of Worcester ware would give an almost complete epitome of the history of 203 BRITISH PORCELAIN English porcelain. It would, however, fall short in two or three points, figures being represented only by a few examples of no great merit, while biscuit was entirely absent, and the more extravagant influences of the rococo were checked by the quiet and utilitarian spirit that pervaded the factory. The continued success of the works was largely due to the amount of useful ware produced and to the sterling qualities of the porcelain itself. The early wares consisted almost entirely of tea and coffee and table services, neatly made and quietly decorated, often in blue under the glaze after Chinese models, and with low embossed patterns borrowed mainly from contemporary silver work. The enamel painting was based on the old Imari porcelain, including both the simple Kakiemon designs and the more elaborate chrysanihemo- pceonienne patterns (plate 45, fig. 1). Indeed the ware was so good, and the decoration so simple, that London dealers were tempted to buy it in the white and paint it themselves to their own taste. Giles in the Haymarket carried on an extensive trade of this nature ; but this unsatisfactory situation was corrected by the engagement of a number of Chelsea hands between 1763-68, under whose influence the finest period (1763-83) began, and rich painting in the Sevres style was introduced. Fine ground colours with exquisite gilding, broken by panels containing the usual birds, bouquets, animals and Watteau figures, were freely used ; the patterns were tastefully selected and skilfully adapted, rather than copied, the painting being of the highest quality. Of the colours the most successful were a gros bleu usually powdered 204 WORCESTER on and sometimes diapered with a scale pattern (plate 43, fig. 1) ; a fine enamel blue of great brilliancy ; a Pompadour red, sometimes marked with the scale diaper; deep pea-green (plate 43, fig. 2), and canary yellow. The vases and ornamental pieces were usually of simple Chinese forms, the more fanciful rococo shapes of the Chelsea ware being rarely employed. In the Flight and Barr period the prevailing neo- classical taste altered the forms, generally for the worse ; the painting, though careful and precise, lost its freshness and spontaneity, and the colours suffered from the hardening of the glaze. The inevitable degeneration set in with the early years of the nine- teenth century, when clumsy forms, over-decoration and ostentatious gilding satisfied the decadent taste of the time. Few of the names of the Worcester artists have survived, though some of the most elaborate vases are known to have been painted by Donaldson and O'Neale about 1770. Another artist of this time was C. C. Fogo, and the Chelsea painters are said to have included Dontil, Duvivier, Dyer, Mills and Willman. Billingsley was at Worcester from 1808-11, and Thomas Baxter worked there a few years later. Transfer-printing was a speciality of the factory. It seems to have been introduced by Robert Hancock, who come from Battersea in 1756, and under his guidance fine line-engravings were transferred to the ware in black, red and lilac colours over the glaze. Among Hancock's best known designs are portrait busts of Frederick the Great (plate 45, fig. 3), George III. and Queen Charlotte, the Marquis of Granby, and William Pitt, besides such designs as "The Tea Party," 205 BRITISH PORCELAIN "LJ Amour" (in which a gallant is discovered kissing a lady's hand), and various scenes in which milkmaids are the central figures. His principal pupils were Valentine Green, J. Ross and T. Turner, and the engravings were largely borrowed from the pictures of Watteau, Boucher, Le Rat, Gainsborough, etc., besides the designs of Pillement, Fenn and others. The transfers were occasionally coloured and gilt. Blue printing under the glaze began probably about 1760, and in the Flight and Barr regime " bat-printing " replaced the old method of transferring the impressions on paper. In the new process the design was applied on a thin slab or bat of soft glue, oil instead of pigment being used, and the colour subsequently dusted on ; the old line engravings were now replaced by stippled designs after Cipriani, Angelica Kaufmann, and Bartolozzi. The Worcester marks are very numerous, the earliest being a great variety of workmen's signs, of which a few examples are given in fig. 173. The first regular factory marks were the crescent in outline or filled in (fig. 174), and the letter W in cursive or Roman capitals (fig. 175). Next came the Chinese fretted square (fig. 176), travesties of Chinese date marks (fig. 177), and disguised letters and numerals simu- lating Oriental script (fig. 178) ; these marks are nearly always in under-glaze blue, though red and gold were occasionally used. Blue-printed wares were marked with a cursive W or a crescent which sometimes en- closes a Roman capital ; later a Roman capital W was used. Pieces printed in over-glaze colours are rarely marked, though the signature of Hancock (fig. 179) 206 3 ci 5 _J WORCESTER and the monogram and rebus of Richard Holdship (one of the proprietors who seems to have been specially concerned with the printing) sometimes appear annexed to the engraving (fig. 180). The * c c Fig. 174. Fig. 175. Fig. 173. Fig. 176. Fig. 177. Fig. 179. Fig. 181. B.EB Fig. 18U. Fig. 178. Fig. 180. y? R JTT 1 — ' Fig. 182. I Fig. 183. cursive W was discarded about 1783 and the crescent about ten years later ; and subsequent marks con- sisted of the style of the firm in full or in cypher, pencilled or impressed, a crown being added after 1788 207 BRITISH PORCELAIN (fig. 181). Between 1793 and 1803 a B (for Barr) was sometimes scratched in the paste. It should be noted, however, that marks of other factories are not uncom- mon on Worcester wares, e.g. the Bow and Chelsea anchors, Frye's monogram (fig. 150), the Meissen crossed swords usually accompanied by the numerals 9 or 91 (fig. 183), Sevres decorators' marks, etc. A second Worcester factory was started near the Cathedral in 1789 by Robert Chamberlain, who left the Warmstry House in 1783 and started by decorating Caughley porcelain supplied " in the white." Cham- berlain's ware has little to distinguish it from the ordinary porcelain of his time, though between 1811 and 1816 a special composition of great translucency and beauty, called " Regent " porcelain, was used for the more costly services. The decoration was rich and well executed, and Humphrey Chamberlain, a son of the founder, gained some reputation for very minute and elaborate painting ; the Derby Japan patterns were copied with success in the early part of the nineteenth century. The mark was the title of the firm. In 1840 the factory was amalgamated with the old Worcester company. A third factory was established by Thomas Grainger in St. Martin's Street in 1800 and continued till 1888. Caughley The pottery at Caughley, on the Severn, a few miles above Bridgnorth, was converted into an important porcelain manufactory by Thomas Turner, the Wor- cester engraver, who took over the works in 1772. In 208 COALPORT 1799 the factory was bought by John Rose, of Coalport, on the opposite bank of the Severn, and was used by him as subsidiary works till 1814, when it was dismantled. As might be expected, Caughley porcelain resembles that of Worcester in its general appearance, though the pieces are thicker, less skilfully potted and lacking in the indescribable neatness of finish that distin- guishes the productions of the parent factory. Much of the ware is printed in a bright under-glaze blue, often in floral patterns resembling those of Worcester. Turner was himself an engraver and Hancock is said to have worked with him for some time after 1774. Thomas Minton, when apprenticed at Caughley about 1780, is believed to have engraved the famous " Willow " and " Broseley Blue Dragon " patterns, which were adapted from Chinese originals. Enamel painting of good quality, and often in the Derby style, was also used, but the most distinctive Caughley pattern consisted of formal borders with slight floral festoons and sprays in blue and gold, the latter being thin but of good quality (plate 46, Fig. 3). The marks were the letters C or S (= Salopian) printed or painted in blue (figs. 184 and 185), Arabic numerals simulating Chinese marks (fig. 186) and occasionally the word SALOPIAN impressed. Coalport John Rose, who founded the Coalport works about 1790, had served his apprenticeship at the Caughley factory which he afterwards bought up. He was a 209 p BRITISH PORCELAIN man of skill and energy, and the Coalport works rapidly developed into one of the most important English porcelain factories ; in 1819 he persuaded Billingsley and Walker of Nantgarw to join him, eventually buying up the plant of that factory in 1822, and part of that of Swansea two years later. His own improvements in the Coalport porcelain included a glaze for which he obtained the Isis gold medal in 1820, and the introduction of pure felspar into the body. The decoration varied with the fashions of the day, and though always well executed, did not rise c £ Fig. 184. Fig. 185. Fig. 186. Fig. 187. above the prevailing taste. Vases with applied flowers in the Derby style and painted landscapes are not uncommon ; and close imitations of the rich Sevres and Chelsea pieces were a speciality at one time, the marks themselves being accurately copied. The Coalport works are flourishing at the present day. The early marks include those used at Caughley, and occasionally the word Coalport. After 1799 com- binations of CD, and C B D (for Coalbrookdale, fig. 187), and also CDale were usual. The compli- cated monogram (fig. 188), which consists of the initials of Coalport and Salopian enclosing those of Caughley, Swansea and Nantgarw is not older than 1861. 210 ^ O PLYMOUTH AND BRISTOL Plymouth and Bristol The manufacture of true porcelain in England after the methods in use in China, was practically confined to Plymouth and Bristol and lasted about twelve years. It became possible after the discovery in Cornwall, between 1745-55, of china-clay and china- stone (the kaolin and petuntse of the Chinese) by William Cookworthy, an apothecary. After some years of experiment Cookworthy took out a patent in 1768 and started a factory at Coxside, or, according to some authorities, in High Street, Plymouth. It appears that the business was removed to Bristol in 1770 and established at No. 15, Castle Green, under the style of Cookworthy & Co., the patent rights and the factory itself passing three years later into the hands of Richard Champion, who had been connected with the work ever since its removal to Bristol, if not before. Cookworthy experienced great difficulties in appor- tioning the materials and firing the ware, and many of the surviving examples testify that his efforts were often unsuccessful ; in these the glaze has run thick and the shapes warped, while fire-cracks and smoke- staining are so frequent as to be almost a feature of the Plymouth porcelain. Another characteristic, which is also shared by Bristol porcelain, is that the pieces made on the wheel show, when held obliquely to the light, distinct spiral ridges or " wreathing." The ware is either white with moulded ornament such as rock work, shells, etc., or painted (1) with an under- glaze blue which is often " run " and hazy, and (2) with 211 BRITISH PORCELAIN enamels, the designs being mainly Chinese. Some good figures and a few vases were made, but it is thought that the more elaborate pieces belong to the Bristol period. It is, however, only fair to say that others hold that the works continued at Plymouth till about 1774, and that the best pieces date from the last few years of that time. The mark is the alchemist's sign for tin (fig. 189) and occurs in blue under the glaze, in enamels, and, on some of the finest pieces, in gold. On a creamjug in the British Museum this mark is accompanied by the Bristol cross. In 1773 Richard Champion, a Bristol merchant who had for some time been actively interested in the manufacture of porcelain, took over the factory at Castle Green, changing its name to " The Bristol China Manufactory." Two years later he applied for a renewal of the patent, and meeting with only partial success, he continued the work till 1781, when he sold his rights to a Staffordshire Company which appears to have traded in the protected materials rather than manufactured true porcelain. Champion's Bristol porcelain was artistically, if not commercially, a great success, and at the present day it is valued as highly as Chelsea and Worcester. A great variety was made, including choice table ware, a few vases and a number of fine figures, besides a few biscuit plaques ornamented with medallions or shields of arms enclosed in wreaths of flowers exquisitely modelled in full relief. Champion favoured the Meissen taste (plate 46, fig. 2), which is reflected in the forms, mouldings and decoration of his table services, and sometimes in the marks placed underneath them. Favourite orna- 212 PLYMOUTH AND BRISTOL ments consisted of ribbon borders and festoons of flowers or laurel hanging from gilt bands, and laurel wreaths which were admirably suited for the display of the fine green enamel so characteristic of the ware (plate 47, fig. 1). In addition to the richer wares, a cheaper production known as cottage china was made, and decorated with bold but hastily executed flowers and sprays. Painting in under-glaze blue seems to have been little used, transfer-printing still less. The ware itself is extremely hard, with a cold -I- Fig. 189. Fig. 190. Fig. 190A. Fig. 191. Fig. 192. glittering glaze often pitted with minute " pin-holes," and, like the Plymouth porcelain, marked with spiral ridges or wreathing. Of the employes the best known names are those of John Britain, the foreman, Henry Bone, the celebrated enameller, who had probably painted at the Plymouth works and was indentured to Champion in 1772 ; William Stephens, a painter of flowers and festoons ; Thomas Briand, who is supposed to have modelled the fine biscuit flowers, and a modeller of figures whose signature To (probably Tebo) appears also on Bow and Wedgwood ware. The marks were (1) the Plymouth mark (fig. 189), (2) a cross, rectangular or in saltire (fig. 190) ; often with a decorator's number added (Bone and Stephens are said to have been No. 1 and No. 2 respectively) ; (3) the Meissen crossed swords, sometimes painted 213 BRITISH PORCELAIN over with a distinctive Bristol mark (fig. 191), and (4) the letter B, with or without a number (fig. 192). Though Champion's factory was the best known and most important porcelain works at Bristol, it was not the only one, nor by any means the earliest. Porcelain was made about 1750 at Lowry's glass-house, and it is recorded that " soapy rock " was fetched from " Lizard Point " for its manufacture. The only published examples of this ware are a statuette of a Chinese deity in the Trapnell collection and a few sauce boats " adorned with reliefs in festoons," two of which are in the British Museum. Some of these pieces are painted with floral patterns in blue, enamels or gilding, and the usual mark is the word BristolL It is, how- ever, possible that a plate and bowl dated 1753 and 1762 respectively, and bearing initials of Robert and Francis Britain were also made here, and that R. Britain assisted at these works, as also at a short-lived factory which started and finished in the year 1765, possibly under the auspices of Cookworthy himself. 214 - CHAPTER XXII Liverpool A LTHOUGH a number of Liverpool potters, such A\. as Richard Chaffers, Reid & Co., Philip Christian, and Seth Pennington, attempted the manufacture of porcelain between 1750 and 1780, little is known of their wares, which are apparently undistinguished by factory marks. The best authenticated specimens are those decorated with transfer-prints by Sadler and Green ; of these some are of a coarse opaque ware with glaze of a bluish tint, while others are softer, more creamy and translucent, and resembling the porcelain of Bow and Worcester. The printing process seems to have been discovered independently at Liverpool about 1750 by John Sadler, who applied it to the decoration of local pottery and porcelain (plate 48, fig. 1), as well as to wares sent from Staffordshire and elsewhere. The Liverpool printing, though of high quality, does not equal that of Worcester. An ordin- ary porcelain of the modern type was made at the Herculaneum works from 1800-1841, and marked after 1820 with the name of the factory and sometimes with the " liver," the emblem of Liverpool. 215 BRITISH PORCELAIN Lowestoft The recent discoveries of the remains of a kiln, together with a number of moulds, fragments and wasters in Crown Street, Lowestoft, like the similar find on the site of the Bow works in 1868, have thrown a fresh light on an obscure and much debated manu- facture. The Lowestoft works were founded in 1757 by four men of whom Robert Browne seems to have been the leading spirit ; and they continued in opera- tion till 1802. The ware is an artificial, fritted, soft porcelain not unlike that of Bow, a fact which supports the tradition that Browne learned the secrets of the manufacture in the guise of a workman in the Bow factory. There are, however, considerable variations both in its quality and appearance, the pieces being often rough and opaque with specks and flaws in the glaze ; by transmitted light Lowestoft porcelain always shows a greenish yellow tinge, though to the eye it varies from a creamy yellowish tint to a decidedly bluish tone, the latter being usual where the decora- tion is of the blue and white kind. The shapes are almost entirely of the useful class, vases and purely ornamental pieces being rare and apparently beyond the scope of the factory. From the old moulds it will be seen that low reliefs, such as appear on early Bow and Worcester porcelain, were freely used (plate 48, fig. 3), besides basket patterns for dessert dishes, cabbage-leaf designs for jugs, ribbing, and various panelled patterns on the sauce boats, etc. The painting was largely in under-glaze blue after Chinese models or in enamel colours, sometimes in Oriental and some- 216 LOWESTOFT times in native taste ; the coloured decorations in- clude slight floral patterns and formal borders of ribbon scroll, and dotted designs, in which a peculiar pink is conspicuous. A feathery scroll is common on the borders of panels whether painted or moulded, and a fragment of decoration, often a rose, is found inside the teacups, though this is by no means confined to Lowestof t wares ; it will also be noted that the handles of the larger pieces usually have a thumb-rest. Some of the best known examples bear inscriptions or designs of local import (plate 48, fig. 2). No regular factory mark seems to have been used, though numerals up to twenty-four, the letter T or L, and workmen's signs such as were used at Worcester, are sometimes found on the foot rims of the pieces ; and it is prac- tically certain that the Worcester crescent was added to some of the wares on which the decoration was of Worcester origin. Possibly a few stray pieces of Chinese porcelain were decorated at Lowestoft, as at other factories, but there is not a particle of truth in the ridiculous theory that hard-paste porcelain resembling the Chinese ware was ever made at the Suffolk factory. There is no occa- sion to repeat here the old story of how the error arose or how it has been entirely confuted, but this kind of myth dies so hard that it is the duty of every succes- sive writer to record his conviction on the subject. At present there is less temptation to repeat the old misnomer, because the genuine Lowestoft ware is receiving so much attention and commanding prices which, it is needless to remark, are far above its merits. Indeed the Lowestoft craze is becoming so prevalent 217 BRITISH PORCELAIN that all the early blue and white wares, whether of Bow, Worcester, Caughley, Longton Hall, or any other origin, are in danger of being claimed by Lowestoft enthusiasts for their own. Pinxton, Nantgarw, Swansea and Madeley The adventures of William Billingsley form by themselves a complete chapter in the history of Eng- lish porcelain. He has already been mentioned as a flower-painter of high repute at Derby, where he evidently imbibed a deep admiration for the old glassy fritted porcelain which was gradually passing out of use in the last years of his work at that factory. He had, however, evolved a recipe of his own, which he first put into practice at a small manufactory started at Pinxton Wharf, East Derbyshire, about 1796, by himself and William Coke. The first Pinxton porcelain was a beautiful translucent glassy ware, approaching in quality the subsequent productions of Nantgarw and Swansea, and decorated with slight patterns in the Derby style, sprigs of roses or cornflowers and sketchy landscapes being most common. Gilding was sparingly used, some of the ware being edged with blue enamel instead (plate 49, fig. 1), and, with the exception of canary yellow, ground-colours are practically un- known. Billingsley left Pinxton in 1801 and the ware deteriorated into an earthy opaque porcelain of the late Derby type. The factory was sold to Cutts in 1804 and closed eight years later. Marked specimens 218 E- £ N ^g . a 1 NANTGARW are rare, but the letter P or the word Pinxton occa- sionally occur, usually accompanied by a pattern number. On leaving Pinxton Billingsley decorated china for a year at Mansfield, whence he moved to Torksey, pursuing the same occupation there for about six years ; and during this time he is reputed to have helped to start the little known factory of Wirks worth. In 1808 he went to Worcester and three years later to Coalport. Owing probably to financial embarrass- ments, he had adopted during his wanderings the alias Beeley or Bailey, and under this name he came to Nantgarw in 1811 with his son-in-law, Samuel Walker, to start the manufacture of glassy porcelain in this retired Welsh village a few miles north of Cardiff. He obtained monetary assistance from W. W. Young, the Swansea painter, but his ware proved so expensive to make that he soon had to appeal to the Government for help. Failing in this quarter he persuaded Dillwyn, the head of the Swansea potteries, to allow him to set up a kiln at the Cambrian works, where he made his porcelain for three years. His recipe, how- ever, was superseded at Swansea by a more practicable composition, and Billingsley returned to Nantgarw in 1817. Two years later he was induced by Rose to come to Coalport where his ware was again tried with- out success, but he seems to have remained in this neighbourhood till his death in 1828. Billingsley 's porcelain, whether made at Nantgarw or Swansea (and perhaps we should add at Coalport) is marked with the word NANTGARW,or NANT-GARW, with or without a hyphen, and the initials C.W. (which 219 BRITISH PORCELAIN probably stand for China Works) usually impressed in the paste (fig. 193) ; it is remarkable for its soft, white, glassy appearance, though often marred by warping and blisters in the glaze. The decoration when locally applied, usually consisted of flowers, more or less naturalistically treated, and occasionally of fruit ; but the greater part was bought in the white by Mortlock and painted with more elaborate designs by London enamellers. From 1819-22 the Nantgarw works were carried on by Young, but little is known of the ware of this period. The first porcelain made at Swan- NANT-GARW gea wag that introduced by Billing- Jv" YQO sley in 1814, which was, as already stated, soon superseded by Dillwyn's recipe. The latter was based on Billingsley's ware, strengthened by Fig. 194. the addition of steatite, and it is SWANSEA recognised by the greenish tint which it imparts to transmitted light. From this peculiarity it is sometimes known as " duck-egg " porcelain. The mark is the word SWANSEA in capitals or in cursive letters (fig. 194), with the addition of one or two tridents impressed to denote an attempted improvement in the paste (fig. 195). A third Swansea porcelain made by the new manager, Bevington, be- tween 1818 and 1824, is distinguished by a peculiar dead white appearance of the glaze, the mark being the name of the place. Much of the Swansea porcelain is very beautifully painted with flowers (plate 47, fig. 3), in which Billingsley's influence is clearly 220 STAFFORDSHIRE traceable, the best known artists being Pollard, who excelled in wild flowers, and Morris, a pupil of Billingsley. Besides these, Young copied flowers and plants in a marked naturalistic style, sometimes writing the botanical names under the pieces ; and Thomas Baxter painted landscapes and figure subjects. Transfer-printing and lustred decoration, besides biscuit ornaments with applied flowers, etc., were also produced at the works. The manufacture of porcelain, however, was abandoned in 1824, though Pollard and Morris remained for some time at Swansea decorating the unfinished Swansea ware as well as porcelain obtained from Staffordshire and elsewhere. Between 1830 and 1840 Thomas Martin Randall made a glassy porcelain not unlike Billingsley's ware, at Madeley, near Coalport ; it was chiefly decorated in the style of Old Sevres and was distinguished by a fine turquoise blue ground-colour. Staffordshire The earliest porcelain factory in Staffordshire was that of Littler of Brownhills and Longton Hall (see p. 200). It closed about 1758, and though it is probable that among the many potters of the district there were always one or two enterprising persons experimenting with porcelain bodies, nothing definite can be recorded till 1781, when Champion's patent was bought by a Staffordshire company. This firm, whose headquarters was first at Tunstall and afterwards at the New Hall, Shelton, does not seem to have actually made true porcelain, but rather to have traded in 221 BRITISH PORCELAIN the china-stone and china-clay protected by Cham- pion's patent. The New Hall porcelain is an artificial soft-paste of inferior quality, usually decorated with Chinese designs or slight floral patterns with ribbon borders in the Lowestoft style. The factory closed in 1825 ; the earliest mark was probably a cursive capital N incised, but later the name of the works was printed in red within a circle (fig. 196). The development of the vast porcelain industry of the Potteries belongs rather to the nineteenth century, after the composition of the English bone porcelain had been definitely settled, and it is chiefly associated with the history of three great factories. Davenport. — John Davenport first made porcelain at his works at Longport, by Burslem, in 1794 and the manufacture continued till 1887. The ware was pure and very translucent, and decorated in the prevailing style (plate 49, fig. 2), the mark being an anchor and the words DAVENPORT and LONGPORT singly or together (fig. 197). Spode. — Josiah Spode, the younger, succeeded his father at the works at Stoke-upon-Trent in 1797, and shortly afterwards the manufacture of porcelain began. Spode improved his wares by the use of felspar, and he seems to have done more than any other potter to determine the most practical kind of porcelain- body ; the use of frit was abandoned, the proper pro- portion of bone-ash finally settled, and the beautiful English bone-porcelain firmly established (see p. 180). Spode' s porcelain was pure, translucent and mechanic- ally perfect ; but the decoration suffered from the degenerate taste of the time, though some of the 222 STAFFORDSHIRE Spode patterns, particularly the " Japans," are de- cidedly pleasing. A fine blue and good gilding con- tributed largely to the rich effect of the best pieces. In 1833 the business was purchased by Alderman Copeland, and the firm is flourishing at the present day. The old mark was SPODE in Roman capitals or uncials, impressed or printed in blue and red, and generally accompanied by a pattern number. Minton. — Thomas Minton, who engraved the willow- pattern at Caughley, started a factory at Stoke-upon- Trent in 1789, adding porcelain to his wares in 1796. Early Minton ware has little to distinguish it from that of Davenport and Spode except that it was at *Ji*\j Fig. 196. Fig. 197. Fig. 198. first rather less translucent and that the decorations were rather more varied and original. The founder died in 1836, but the works are still flourishing. The earliest mark was a travesty of the crossed L's of jSevres with the letter M between (fig. 198) ; later an ermine spot was used, perhaps not before 1851, and since 1861 the name MINTON has been impressed in the paste. The early wares of these firms consist mainly of table services decorated in bright colours and gilding in the late Derby style, the effect often being gaudy and tasteless, though some of the patterns are bold, bright and pleasing ; but the reputation of the great 223 BRITISH PORCELAIN Staffordshire factories is based on their productions since the general revival of the art in the middle of last century. Fine vases often in close imitation of old Sevres, figures and groups in " Parian " biscuit, useful and ornamental wares of every kind have been made in profusion since about 1840 ; but the most beautiful of them all, M. Solon's delightful pdte-sur- pdte (modelled designs in white on coloured grounds), is of quite recent date, and it is a matter of general regret [that M. Solon's 'exquisite plaques and vases are made no longer. The porcelain industry became very general in Staffordshire early in the nineteenth century, and many of the earthenware potters such as Neale & Co., Miles Mason, Shorthose & Heath, and Riley turned their attention to it. For eight or ten years, beginning about 1805, porcelain was made at the Wedgwood factory, Etruria ; the ware, which chiefly consisted of table services decorated according to the fashion of the time, was marked, as a rule, with the name WEDGWOOD stencilled in red. A revival of the manufacture at Etruria took place in 1872. It only remains to mention a few small factories of but slight importance. Of these the most consider- able was the Swinton pottery, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, where porcelain was made from about 1820-42 under Brameld's direction. The factory was on the Rockingham estate of the Earl of Fitz- william, from whom it received financial help in 1826, taking the name Rockingham works and the right to use the Earl's crest, a griffin passant. The ware was a fine bone-porcelain of the modern type, mechanically 224 KOCKINGHAM perfect, but ungainly in shape, and decorated, as a rule, with over-elaborate painting and oppressive gilding. Modelled flowers, as at Derby and Coalport, were applied to the ornamental pieces ; biscuit ware and figures were also made. The marks are the name of the firm, "Brameld & Co., Rocking- ham Works," in full or in part, Fig. 199. with the griffin after 1826 (fig. 199). The small factory of Church Gresley was started in 1795 by Sir Nigel Gresley close to Gresley Hall, in the parish of Burton-upon-Trent ; it was sold to Nadin in 1800, eventually taken over by a company, and closed in 1808. The ware appears to have been of the artificial soft-paste kind, but the difficulties of firing never seem to have been entirely surmounted ; and specimens are of excessive rarity. The factory at Isleworth was founded by Joseph Shore, who is said to have come from Worcester. Assisted by Richard and William Goulding he made an artificial soft-paste porcelain not unlike inferior Worcester, from about 1760 to 1800. There is reason to believe that a porcelain factory existed at Whitehaven in the early part of the nine- teenth century, and a few examples of table ware of the usual kind are attributed to it on good traditional authority. There is no definite record of porcelain made in Scotland before the nineteenth century, though London newspapers of 1755 and 1764 speak of London work- men going to Edinburgh to start the manufacture ; 225 Q BRITISH PORCELAIN and it is possible that two tankards in the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art may be results of this venture. They resemble inferior Chelsea ware in material and decoration, and bear the crest of Dai- ry mple with the name of the village of Over Hailes. Irish porcelain is limited to the modern Belleek ware, which is chiefly of a thin, translucent body covered with a lustrous glaze resembling mother-of- pearl. The forms are commonly taken from shells ; the trade mark contains the name of the works, a greyhound and other emblems. The name Donovan, Dublin, occurs on a few examples of an earlier period ; he was not a manufacturer, but a decorator who procured porcelain from Staffordshire and elsewhere and painted it at his glass factory at Ring's End. He flourished about the year 1800. 226 CHAPTER XXIII Values, Forgeries, etc. THE most precious of the early English porcelains are Chelsea, Worcester of the best period (1763-83), and Bristol ; next come Derby, Bow, Longton Hall and Plymouth ; Lowestoft has lately come into high favour ; and Liverpool, Caughley and New Hall command some attention. Of the nineteenth century wares those of Nantgarw and Swansea are first favourites, though the demand for early examples of the modern bone-china, such as was made at Coalport, Minton's, Davenport's, Spode's, Rockingham, etc., is increasing. With regard to values, any authentic specimen of soft-paste porcelain with the smallest pretension to decorative beauty will command a con- siderable price, while really fine pieces of a good period are only within reach of the longest purses. As much as two thousand pounds has been paid for a really fine Chelsea vase of the fourth period ; a Worcester coffee- pot decorated with scale-blue ground and birds was recently sold by auction for six hundred and odd pounds ; a hundred pounds has been paid for an exceptional cup and saucer of Bristol china ; while twenty pounds is an ordinary price for a Chelsea 227 BRITISH PORCELAIN scent bottle or a good Nantgarw plate. On the other hand there is a great gulf fixed between the fine pieces and defective specimens or roughly decorated domestic wares, even though the latter may possess the magic virtue of having " been in the family for over a hundred years " ! A few shillings will buy a blue and white Worcester cup and saucer of the baser sort, though it were made under Dr. Wall's directorate ; and what would otherwise be a good piece loses cast at once if it be cracked or imperfect. It is essential for a really fine piece to belong to a good period, to be attractively decorated, to be in perfect condition and, of course, to be above suspicion. The last qualification is by no means the easiest for the collector to make sure of ; for the market is full of clever forgeries, some of which have been noted in past chapters. Re-decoration is perhaps the most insidious of these frauds ; but a minute examination of the suspected piece will sometimes disclose traces of an earlier decoration which has been supplanted by richer colours. Moreover, it is hard to re-fire old china without leaving some tell-tale marks, and a slight blackening of the foot rim and sometimes a lustrous oily stain on the edge of the new colour will betray the cloven hoof. French and German imita- tions of Worcester, Bristol, and even Nantgarw and Lowestoft, are all too frequent, but a careful study of the paste and glaze of the originals will protect the collector in these cases ; and pity is wasted on those who buy at ridiculously low prices German copies of Worcester scale-blue, with the square mark, it is true, but in obvious hard-paste porcelain. Forged marks, 228 FORGERIES especially those in enamel or gilt over the glaze, are met with every day, the Chelsea anchor, the Bristol cross and the Crown-Derby mark being most commonly sinned against. Sometimes the deceit is ridiculously clumsy, as when at a recent sale a cup and saucer appeared of Bristol shape and decoration but clearly not hard paste ; there was the Bristol cross and a number sure enough under the cup, but turning the bottom of the saucer obliquely to the light one saw the modern Worcester mark faintly stamped in the paste. But perhaps the commonest frauds, and often the most difficult to detect, are the spurious figures, many of which are actually made from the old Chelsea and Derby moulds, sold and dispersed after 1848. The marks and decoration on these pieces are carefully imitated, and nothing but knowledge of the ware itself will save the collector from disaster. The connoisseur is not made in a day, and in few things is a little knowledge more dangerous than in the fascinating quest of old china ; it so often happens that the amateur knows just enough to make him an enthusiast, and too little to safeguard him from the many pitfalls that await him. Patient study is needed both of books and at the same time of authentic pieces ; and though the tendency is for the best porce- lain to find its way into private hands, the Londoner has only to go to the rich collections in his public museums to get a full and free education. Of these the Asiatic Saloon in the British Museum will provide the best general study of Oriental wares, while the Salting Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum will give him a perpetual feast on the fine productions 229 BRITISH PORCELAIN of the K'ang-hsi period. Of continental porcelain the Franks collection, now at Bethnal Green, is the most compact and best arranged, though there are many fine examples at South Kensington, and the Wallace Collection, in Hertford House, contains an unrivalled series of Sevres masterpieces. English porcelain as a whole can be best studied at the British and the Victoria and Albert Museums, though special collec- tions of local wares will be seen at Worcester, Bristol, Liverpool, Derby and Cardiff. 230 General Index Abe Omi, potter, 102 Acier, modeller, 122, 123 ^Esculapius, staff of, mark, 121, 126 ^Esop's fables on porcelain, 190 Aizu, pottery at, 106 Akaji-Kinga, 96, 97, 102 Alcora, pottery at, 177 Alfonso II, 171 Amakusa, 92 Ansbach, pottery at, 138 Antonibon, P., potter, 173 Ao-Kutani, 99, 101-103 AR, mark, 121, 126, 151 Arabic inscriptions, 21, 61 Aranjuez palace, 176 " Arcanists," 118, 134, 137, 165, 179, 202 Arhats, 50, 79, 95, 107 Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 200 Arita, potteries at, 82, 84-90 Arras, pottery at, 151 Arrow cylinders, 46 Art names, 81 Artemisia leaf, 69 Aster pattern, 31 Aubergine purple, 18, 27, 63, 96 Aue, kaolin of, 118 Augustus, the Strong, 86, 113, 117 Awaja Genemon, potter, 101 Awata, potteries at, 95 Axe, Chinese symbol, 69 " Azure put in press," 33 B, mark, 208 Bachelier, painter, 154 Bacon, John, sculptor, 186, 188, 193, 199 Baden, pottery at, 139 Baranowka, pottery at, 144 Barbeaux, a, pattern, 167 Barbin, potter, 150 Baroque style, 119 Barr, Flight and Barr, 202 Barriere de Reuilly pottery, 169 Bartolozzi, 206 Bat, emblem, 58 Bat-printing, 206 " Batavian " ware, 27, 47 Battersea, pottery at, 63, 179, 205 Baxter, Thomas, painter, 205 Bayer, J. C., potter, 142 Bayreuth, pottery at, 139 Beeley, alias Billingsley, 219 Belleek porcelain, 226 Belleville pottery, 169 Bemrose, W., 199 Bengraf, potter, 129, 133 Benten, Goddess of Love, 78 Bergdoll, potter, 132 Berlin porcelain, 121, 134, 135 Bethnal Green Museum, 230 Bevington, potter, 220 Beyer, J. C., potter, 132 231 GENERAL INDEX Beyerle, Baron J. L., 166 Billingsley, painter, 198, 205, 210, 218, 219, 220, 221 Biscuit porcelain, 6, 9, 31, 128, 133, 135, 147, 166, 167, 172, 174, 175, 194, 197, 212, 213, 221, 225 Bishamon, God of Military Glory, 78 Biwa, lake, 97 BL, mark, 167 Black, colour, 133 Blanc de Chine, 64 Bleu du roi, 125, 133, 153 Bloor, Robert, potter, 196, 197, 200 Blue and white porcelain, 9, 10, 20, 21, 29, 40, 58, 203 " Blue Tower " pottery, 142 Blue, under the glaze, 8 Boch, brothers, potters, 146 Bodhisattva, 92 Boermann, potter, 134 Bohm, potter, 134 Boileau, potter, 154 Boisette, pottery at, 169 Boizot, modeller, 155 Bone, Henry, enameller, 213 Bone ash, 180, 184, 197, 203, 222 Bone china, 180 Bone porcelain, 4, 222, 224 Bonicelli, potter, 176 Bordeaux, pottery at, 169 Bottengruber, W., painter, 140 Bottger, J. F., potter, 114, 117-119 Boucher, 154, 155, 181, 206 Bourbon, Charles, 175 Bourg-la-Reine, pottery at, 150 Bow porcelain, 178, 179, 182, 184, 190, 191, 196, 213, 215, 216, 227 Bowcocke, John, 188 Boyle, potter, 196 BR, mark, 150 Brameld, potter, 224, 225 Brancas-Lauraguais, Comte de, 167 Brandenstein pattern, 122 Breslau, decorators at, 140 Briand, Thomas, modeller, 213 Brinckmann, Dr. J., 122 Bristol Museum, 230 Bristol, porcelain, 180, 211, 212, 227, 228, 229 Bristoll, mark, 214 Britain, F., potter, 214 Britain, John, potter, 213 Britain, R., potter, 214 Britannia, figure of, 186 British Museum, 19, 172, 185, 186, 212, 214, 229, 230 Brodel, potter, 174 Brogniart, 155, 156, 157 Bronze colour, 27 Bronze patterns, 31, 44, 45, 48 " Broseley Blue Dragon " pat- tern, 209 Browne, R., potter, 216 Bruchberg, pottery at, 138 Bruhl, Count, 122, 124 Brussels porcelain, 147 Buddhism, 50 Buen Retiro, pottery at, 175, 176 Buffon, 52 Burton, W., 38, 186 Busch, Canon A. O. E., decorator, 141 Bushell, Dr., 26, 38, 96 Butsuyu, 97 Cadogan teapots, 27 Caen, pottery at, 170 Cafe au lait glaze, 27 Cambrian works, 219 Canton, 12, 32, 35, 60-63, 185 232 GENERAL INDEX Capo-di-Monte porcelain, 139, 173, 175, 176 Cardiff Museum, 230 Cassel, potteries at, 137 Cassius, purple of, 10 Caughley porcelain, 208, 209, 210, 223, 227 Celadon, 7, 33, 41, 87, 88, 94, 107, 109, 110 Ceylon, 22 CH, mark, 169 Chaffers, R., potter, 215 Cha-ire, 77 Ch'ai yao, 15 Cha-jin, 74, 94 Chamberlain, Humphrey, painter, 208 Chamberlain, Robert, potter, 208 Chambrelans, 139,140, 157, 183 Champion, Richard, potter, 211, 212, 213, 214, 221, 222 Chang, brothers, potters, 17 Chang, the Twelve, 55 Chang Kuo Lao, 50 Chanon, H. F., potter, 169 Cha-no-yu, 74, 95, 107 Chantilly porcelain, 149, 150, 152, 189 Charlotte, Queen, bust of, 205 Cha-wan, 77 Ch'a-yeh-mo, 39 Chelsea porcelain, 3, 4, 64, 179, 185, 187, 188, 196,204, 210, 212, 227, 229 " Chelsea toys," 194 Chen Tsung, Emperor, 1 1 Ch'eng-hua period, 20, 69 Cheng-te period, 20, 22 Chia-ching period, 21, 22, 42, 46, 58 Chicanneau, potter, 149 " Chicken-skin " glaze, 6 " Chicken wine-cups," 20, 58 Ch'ien-lung period, 14, 34, 36-42, 46 Ch'ien-lung, poem of, 58 Ch'ih-lung, archaic dragon, 51 Chi-hung, 20, 37 Ch'i-lin, 52 China stone and china clay, 74, 222 Chinese children, 78, 85, 92, 100 Chinese porcelain decorated in Europe, 63, 140, 194, 217 Ch'ing dynasty, 24-43 Ching-te-chen, 11, 12, 16, 25, 32,43 Ch'ing tz'u, 16 Choisy-le-Roi, pottery at, 170 Chou tan Ch'uan, potter, 16 Christian, P., potter, 215 Christians in China, 33 Chrome-green, 157 Chrysanthemo-pceonienne, 86, 119, 204 Chrysanthemum, 53, 79, 80, 87 Chun-chou, pottery at, 17, 18, 35, 37 Chung-li Ch'uan, 50 Church Gresley, pottery at, 225 Cipriani, 206 Cirou, C., potter, 149 Clair de lune colour, 15, 18, 19, 26, 34, 109 Glance, potter, 134 " Claret " colour, 193, 195 Clarke, potter, 196 Clarus, potter, 129 Clifton, potter, 178 Clignancourt, pottery at, 168 Clive, Kitty, figure of, 186 Clodion, modeller, 155 Cloisonne blue, 35 Club-shaped vases, 45 Coalbrookdale, 210 Coalport, pottery at, 156, 209, 210, 219, 225, 227 Cobalt blue, 7, 104 233 GENERAL INDEX Cochin-china, 94 Coke, W., potter, 218 Coloured glazes, 7 Comb pattern, 91 Confucius, 48, 49, 53 Conway, Marshal, figure of, 193 Copeland, potter, 223 Copenhagen porcelain, 142, 143 Cookworthy & Co., 211 Cookworthy, William, chem- ist, 211, 214 Copper, oxide of, 7, 37 Coral red, 28 Corean potters, 83, 84, 90, 91, 109, 110 Corean wares, 74, 109, 110 Cornflower pattern, 167, 168, 218 Cox, Charles, 189 Cozzi, G., 172 CP, mark, 168 Crackle glaze, 8, 16, 22, 38 Craft, Thomas, painter, 185 Crette, L., potter, 147 Cries of Paris, 122 " Crinoline " figures, 125 Crossed swords, mark, 120, 125, 126, 145, 208, 213, 223 Crown Derby porcelain, 197, 200, 229 Crowther, J., potter, 184 Crowther, Robert, 185 Crucifixion plates, 33 Crusaders, 112 " Cucumber green " glaze, 39 Cumberland, Duke of, 179, 189, 190 Custine, Comte de, 166 Cutts, potter, 218 Cyclical dates, 68, 69 Cyme, modeller, 166 Daikoku, God of Riches, 78 Damm, pottery at, 130 Danhofer, painter, 130, 132 Date-marks, Chinese, 65-69 Dates, Chinese, 13 Dauphin, the, 170 Davenport, J., potter, 222, 223, 227 Davis, W., potter, 202 De la Courtille pottery, 168 de Moll, potter, 145 de Villiers, potter, 169 " Dead-leaf " colour, 23, 27 Delft, 114, 117 Demi grand feu, couleurs de, 10, 22, 23, 63 Derby Museum, 230 Derby porcelain, 125, 156, 179, 184, 188, 189, 195,209, 225 Derby-Chelsea porcelain, 194, 197, 198, 200 " Derby Japan " patterns, 182, 198, 208 Deruelle, P., potter, 168 Deshima, 85 Desoches, modeller, 133 Dietrich, C. W. E., potter, 125 Dihl, potter, 169 Dillwyn, potter, 219, 220 Doccia, pottery at, 173, 175 Dohachi, potter, 94, 98 Donaldson, painter, 194, 205 Donovan, painter, 226 Dontil, painter, 205 Dragons, 21, 39, 47, 51, 58, 79, 93 Dresden, 3, 113, 117-127 Dresden collection, the, 86, 119 Du Paquier, potter, 128 Dubarry, Mme., 154, 155 Dubois, brothers, potters, 152 " Duck-egg " porcelain, 220 Duesbury and Heath, 189 Duesbury, W., potter, 184, 189, 194-197, 199, 200 Dulong pattern, 122 234 GENERAL INDEX Duplessis, goldsmith, 154 Duru, sculptor, 155 Dutch delft, 61, 114, 117 Dutch East India Company, 32, 60, 61, 63, 74, 85, 112 Duvivier, painter, 147, 205 DV, mark, 150 D wight, potter, 178 Dyaks of Borneo, 61 Earthenware, 1, 63, 73, 117 East India Company, English, 61 EB, mark, 147 Eberlein, modeller, 123 Edinburgh Museum of Science and Arts, 226 Edinburgh, pottery near, 225 " Eel-skin " yellow, 26 " Egg-shell " porcelain, 6, 19, 23, 35, 40, 41, 88, 93, 106, 109, 203 Egyptian " porcelain," 1 Eight Happy Omens, 55, 72 Eight Immortals, 50, 57, 58 Eight Musical Instruments, 55 Eight Precious Things, 57 Eiraku, 19, 81, 95-98, 102 Elbogen, pottery at, 139 Empire style, 143 Enamel colours on the glaze, 10, 47, 84 Engraving on porcelain, 6, 19, 22, 64 Etching, with a diamond point, 141 Etiolles, pottery at, 166 Etruria, pottery at, 224 E-tsuke, 107 Export wares, Chinese, 60-64 Falconet, sculptor, 154, 155 Famille jaune, 28 Famille noire, 28 Famille rose, 10, 29, 34, 35, 40, 41, 62 Famille verte, 10, 21, 28, 29, 63, 157 Faubourg St. Lazare pottery, 167, 168 Fauquez, potter, 170 Feilner, potter, 133 Fen ting, 16, 27, 31 Feng huang, 51 Fenn, 206 Ferdinand of Naples, 175, 176 Ferrara porcelain, 114, 171 Figures, 123, 124, 144, 181 " Fire-fly " porcelain, 109 Fischer, family, potters, 139 Fish bowls, Chinese, 46 Five colours, the, 10, 21, 27, 36 Flambeware, 8, 18, 33, 37, 38, 109 Flight and Barr, 202, 205, 206 Flight, J. and J., 202 Florence, pottery at, 114, 171 Fogo, C. C., painter, 205 Fontebasso, 174 Forgeries, 156-158, 228 Fournier, L., potter, 142 Fox, 52 Frankenthal porcelain, 130, 132, 133, 165 Franks' collection, 133, 139, 173, 230 Frederick the Great, 134, 135, 147 Frit, 3, 153, 171, 179, 180, 190, 203, 216, 222 Frye, Thomas, potter, 184, 185, 187, 188, 208 Frylner, potter, 132 Fu, 49, 58, 69, 72 Fu Hsing, 49 Fuchien, 12, 45, 63, 64, 109 Fulda porcelain, 138 Fujiyama, 79, 106 Fukagawa, potter, 89 235 GENERAL INDEX Fuku, 103 Fukurokujin, God of Long- evity, 78 Fungus, 53, 72 Furo, 76, 95 Fiirstenberg porcelain, 133, 134 Gainsborough, 206 Gardner, potter, 144 Garnitures de cheminee, 47 Garudas, 47, 51 Genelli, modeller, 135 George III, 176, 205 Gerault, potter, 166 Gerverot, potter, 134 Gilding, 35, 90, 91, 107, 128, 133, 144, 151, 153, 157, 167, 172, 182, 193, 204, 218, 223 Giles, decorator, 204 Gillis, modeller, 147 Ginger- jars, 30 Ginori, Marchese C., 173 Gioanetti, Dr., 174 Glaser, J. C., 133, 139 Glossy black, 28 " Goat and Bee " pattern, 189 Goltz, potter, 129 Gojo-zaka, potteries at, 94 Gombroon ware, 7, 61, 111 Gorodayu Go-Shonzui, 82, 83 Gorosuke, potter, 98 Gosu, 75, 92, 104 Gosuke, painter, 106 Gotha, pottery at, 136, 137 Goto Saijiro, potter, 99 Gotzkowski, J. E., potter, 134, 135 Gotzkowsky pattern, 123 Goulding, R. & W., potters, 225 Gouyn, Charles, potter, 189 Grainger, Thomas, potter, 208 Granby, Marquis of, figure of, 186, 205 Grand feu, couleurs de, 9, 22 Grassi, A., modeller, 128 Gravant, potter, 152, 153 Graviata porcelain, 43 Greek " porcelain," 1 Green, colour, 22, 24, 25, 28 Green, printer, 215 Green, Valentine, engraver, 206 Greenwich, pottery at, 179 Greiner, G., potter, 136 Grieninger, potter, 135 Gricci, modeller, 177 Gros bleu, 187, 193, 195, 204 Grossbreitenbach, pottery at, 136, 137 " Ground vases," 47 Griinbuchel, M. von, potter, 128 Guerhard, potter, 169 Gusi, V., potter, 166 Guy, potter, 169 Hachiroe ware, 102 Hall marks, Chinese, 71, 72, 80 Han dynasty, 48 Han Hsiang Tzu, 50 Hana-ike, 77 Hancock, Robert, engraver, 205, 206, 209 Hancock, Samson, 197, 200 Hang-chou, pottery at, 15 Hannong, A. H., 132 Hannong, B., potter, 165 Hannong, C. F., potter, 165 Hannong, J. A., 132, 133 Hannong, P. A., potter, 165, 166, 168, 170, 174 Hao Shih-chiu, potter, 23 Hard-paste, 2, 3 Hartel, J. P., potter, 130 Harunori, 96 Hashimoto Yasubei, potter, 101 Haslem, 199 236 GENERAL INDEX Hawthorn pattern, 28, 30, 82 HD, mark, 138 Helbig, potter, 125 Hellot, chemist, 152, 154 Herculaneum works, 215 Heidegger, potter, 145 Herend, pottery at, 139, 175 Herold, J. G., potter, 119, 120 Hertford House collection, 230 Hess, G. F., painter, 130 Hetsch, potter, 143 Hewelche, potter, 172 Heyleyn, E., potter, 184 Higashijima Tokuemon, 84 Higuchi, potter, 108 Himeji, pottery at, 106 Hippisley collection, 42 Hirado porcelain, 87, 91-93, 108 Hisatani Yojibei, 88 Hizen wares, 82-93, 101, 104, 107 Ho Hsien Ku, 50 Ho Ho Erh Hsien, twin Genii, 49 Hochst porcelain, 129, 130 Hoho, phoenix, 79 Holdship, R., 197, 207 Ho-shang, 50, 78 Hotei, God of Contentment, 50, 78, Housel, potter, 169 Hozen, 81, 95, 96 Hsi Wang Mu, Queen of the Genii, 49 Hsien-feng period, 43, 68 Hsing-chou porcelain, 14 Hsiian-te period, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 41, 69 Huet, 122 Hundred Antiques, 57 " Hundred flowers " decora- tion, 41 Hungary, 64, 139 Hung-chih period, 20 Hunger, C. K., potter, 128, 172 Hu-p'i, 27 Igo, pottery at, 106 lida Hachiroemon, potter, 102 Imari wares, 29, 61, 74, 76, 86, 88, 89, 198 Imitations, 63, 64, 139, 156, 157 Imperial porcelain, 39, 42, 58, 68 Incense-boxes, 77, 95 Incense-burners, 77 India, 22, 48, 50, 61, 110 " India china," 62, 110 Indianische Blumen, 119 " Ink-black," colour, 36 Inscriptions, 58 Isleworth, pottery at, 225 Italian porcelain, 171 Izumi yama, 75, 83 Izumo, pottery at, 106 Jade, 38 " Japan patterns," 182, 223 Japanese porcelain, 36, 73- 111 Jawamoto Jihei, modeller, 104 Jesuit china, 62 Jesuits, 11, 32 Ji-egu, 104 " Joss-sticks," 45, 51 Juan ts'ai, 35 Ju-chou porcelain, 15 Jucht, painter, 139 Jiichzer, modeller, 126 Jurojin, 78 Kaga wares, 91, 97-104, 106, 107, 109 Kaga-yaki, 104 Kahin Shiriu, 81, 96 Kai-raku-en, 96, 98 237 GENERAL INDEX Kakiemon, 84, 85, 91, 115, 119, 127, 149, 181, 187, 204 Kame, 79 Kameyama, pottery at, 90 Kanda Sobei, potter, 107 Kandler, J. J., modeller, 120, 122, 123 K'ang-hsi period, 5, 10, 14, 22, 24-33, 53, 108, 230 Kaolin, 2, 33, 75, 118, 131, 134, 136, 155, 169, 171, 180, 211 Karako, 78, 92, 93, 95, 100 Kara-shishi, 79, 86, 93 Karl Theodor, 130, 133 Kaseyama, pottery at, 96, 98 Kato, potter, 108 Kato Tamikichi, potter, 104 Kaufmann, Angelica, 206 Kawamoto Hansuke, potter, 104 Kean, Michael, potter, 196, 200 Kelsterbach, pottery at, 138 Kenzan, potter, 94 Keys, E., modeller, 199 Keys, S., 199 Kiku-mon, 79 King Street, Derby, pottery at, 196, 200 " Kingfisher " blue, 27 Kinran-de, 96 Kioto wares, 73, 94-98, 108 Kiri-mon, 80 Kirin, 79, 86 Kirschwer, painter, 132 Kitei, potter, 98 Klipfel, potter, 134 " Klobbered " ware, 63 Kloster Veilsdorf, pottery at, 136, 137 Knife-handles, 123, 150 Ko Ming hsiang, potter, 70 Ko-kutani, 100, 101 Kobe, pottery at, 97 Kochi-yaki, 94, 95, 96 Kogo, 77 Koi, fish, 79 Komatsu, pottery at, 101 Koransha, the, 89 Koro, 77 Korrodi, potter, 145 Korsec, pottery at, 144 Koto porcelain, 97 " Kronenburg " porcelain, 131 Ku Yueh Hsiian, potter, 41, 42, 72 Kuan yao, 15, 17 Kuan Yin, 12, 50, 64 Kuan yii, war god, 49 Kuang yao, 35 Kuang-hsii period, 43 Kuangtung ware, 12 Kublai Khan, 18 K'uei Hsing, God of Litera- ture, 49 Kushi-de, 91 Kutani porcelain, 99-104 Kuzumi Morikage, artist, 100 Kylin, 51, 64, 79 Kyomizu, potteries at, 94 L, mark, 168 " L' Amour," design, 206 La Massellerie, potter, 147 La Rue, modeller, 155 Lacework ornament, 41, 125, 194 Lacquer, 39, 88 Lambeth, pottery at, 179 Lamoninary, potter, 170 Lan Ts'ai-ho, 50 Lanfrey, F., potter, 166 Lange lijsen, 53 Langen, von, 133 Lang T'ing-tso, potter, 24, 25 Lang yao, 24, 25 Lao Tzu, 48, 49, 53 Laquee burgautee, porcelaine, 39 Lassia, potter, 168 LB, mark, 146 238 GENERAL INDEX Le Nove, pottery at, 173 Le Rat, 206 Leclerc, modeller, 155 Lecreux, N., modeller, 147 Leichner, potter, 146 Leithner, J., potter, 128 Lemaire, potter, 169, 170 Lemire, modeller, 166 Lemon-yellow colour, 35, 43 Leperre-Durot, potter, 170 Li T'ai-po, poet, 53 Li T'ieh-Kuai, 50 Lille, pottery at, 149, 170 Limbach, pottery at, 136, 137 Limehouse, pottery at, 179 Limoges, potteries at, 169 Ling-chih, fungus, 53 Lions, Chinese, 45, 52, 58, 64, 79 " Liquid dawn " glaze, 23, 108 Listen, figure of, 200 Littler, William, potter, 200, 201, 221 " Liver," mark, 215 Liverpool Museum, 230 Liverpool porcelain, 180, 182, 215 Locker, potter, 197 Locre, J. B., potter, 168 Lohan, 50 Longevity, 49, 53, 56, 57, 72, 78,79 Longfellow, 11 Longport, pottery at, 222 Longton Hall, pottery at, 196, 200, 221, 227 Lotus, 53, 72 Louis XV, 152, 154, 155 Louis Philippe, 170 Lowenfinck, painter, 129 Lowestoft porcelain, 62, 187, 216, 222, 227, 228 Lowry's glass-house, pottery at, 214 Lu, 49, 72 Lu Hsing, 49 Lii Tung-pin, 50 Ludwigsburg porcelain, 131, 132, 166 Lung, dragon, 51 Lung-ch'ing period, 21 Lung-ch'uan-hsien, pottery at, 16, 33 Luplau,modeller, 133, 142, 143 Luxemburg, pottery at, 146 Lyes, potter, 202 Macheleid, chemist, 136 Macquer, chemist, 155 Madeley, pottery at, 156, 218, 221 Madrid, pottery at, 175, 176, 177 Maeda Toshiharu, 99, 101 Magnesia, silicate of, 174, 177 Magnolia pattern, 31 Malhorn, modeller, 142 Mandarin ducks, 54 " Mandarin " vases, 40 Manganese, 7, 28, 75 Mansfield, pottery at, 219 " Manufacture de Porcelain Allemande," 168 Manufacture du Prince de Galles, 169 Marco Polo, 112 Marcolini, Count C., 125 Marie-Antoinette, 168 Marieberg porcelain, 143 Marks, 80, 104, 182, 157-164 Marks, Chinese, 68-72 Marseilles pattern, 122, 123 Marseilles porcelain, 166 Martabani, 17 Maruyama-yaki, 105 Mason, Miles, potter, 224 Massault, painter, 130 Mathei, modeller, 123 Mathieu, painter, 154 Matsumoto Kikusaburo, pot- ter, 101 239 GENERAL INDEX Maubree, potter, 145 Mayer, potter, 134, 147 " Mazarin " blue, 26, 28, 192, 193 Medici porcelain, 172 Mei jen, 53 Meissen porcelain, 41, 64, 114-128, 129, 132, 141, 143, 150, 152, 179, 189, 212 Meissene Blumen, 121 Melchior, J. P., modeller, 129, 130 Mennecy porcelain, 143, 150, 152, 179, 189 Merault, painter, 144 Metzsch, painter, 139 Michihei, potter, 105 Midzu-sashi, 76 Mi-ho, potter, 88 Mikawachi, pottery at, 88, 91-93 Mills, painter, 205 Ming dynasty, 4, 10, 14, 19, 22, 23, 28, 45, 53, 94 Mino porcelain, 106, 107 Minton, T., potter, 156, 209, 223, 227 " Mirror black " glaze, 26 Miyagawa Shozan, potter, 108 Mohammedan blue, 19, 20, 21, 48, 83 Mokubei, potter, 94, 95 M : OL, mark, 145 Monkey orchestra, 122 Monkhouse, C., 29 Monnier, potter, 166 " Moons," in porcelain body, 192 Mori Chikara, potter, 93 Morimoto Sukezaemon, pot- ter, 98 Morris, painter, 221 Mortlock, dealer, 220 " Mosaic " pattern, 121, 192 Moscow, potteries at, 144 Moser sculptor, 188 Mother-of-pearl, inlaid, 39 Moulds, 229 MP, mark, 167 Mu Wang, Emperor, 58 Muffle kiln, 22, 35 " Mules' liver and horses' lung " glaze, 18 Miiller, potter, 142 Mume, 79 Munich, decorators at, 131 " Mustard yellow " glaze, 39 " Music Lesson," the, 193 N, mark, 222 Nabeshima porcelain, 90-92, 105, 107 Nadin, potter, 225 Ndgas, 47, 51 Nagasaki, 60, 85 " Nagasaki ware," 85 Nagato, potteries in, 106 Namako, 12 Nan-king porcelain, 62 Nan ting, 16 Nantgarw, pottery at, 210, 218, 219, 220, 227, 228 Naples porcelain, 175, 176 Nashimura Zengoro, 95 Nast, potter, 169 Neale & Co., potters, 224 Nengo, 80 " New Canton," 185 New Hall, pottery at, 221, 222,227 Neudeck, 130 Niderwiller porcelain, 166 Niedermayer, potter, 129 Nien hao, 69, 70, 81 Nien Hsi-yao, potter, 34, 36 Nien yao, 34 Niewe Amstel pottery at, 146 Ninsei, potter, 94, 97 Nishiki-de, 86 Nonne, potter, 136 240 GENERAL INDEX " Nurse," the, Chelsea figure, 190 Nymphenburg porcelain, 130, 131 Nyon, pottery at, 145 Oeil-de-perdrix pattern, 154 " Old Japan " style, 187, 190 Okawachi porcelain, 90, 91 Okura, potter, 103 Omuro, pottery at, 97 O'Neale, painter, 194, 205 " Onion pattern," 122 Oniwa-yaki, 96 Open-work ornament, 22 " Orange-peel " glaze, 6 Orleans porcelain, 166 Ota, potteries at, 108 Otoko-yama, pottery at, 98 Otsu, pottery at, 97 Oude Amstel, pottery at, 145 Oude Loosdrecht, pottery at, 145 Oudry, sculptor, 155 Ogata Kichisaburo, potter, 95 Pa kua, 55, 72 Pa Chi-hsiang, 55 Pa Hsien, 50, 72 Pai tz'u, 64 Pajou, modeller, 155 Parian ware, 198, 224 Paris, potteries at, 64, 165, 166-169 " Partridge " pattern, 187 Passau earth, 133, 134 Pdte-sur-pdte, 6, 156, 224 Pate tendre, 156 Paul, N., potter, 137, 138 PC G, mark, 168 Peach, 72 " Peach bloom " glaze, 26 " Peacock green," 27 Pegg, painter, 198 Peking, 18, 63 " Peking " bowls, 43 Peking spaniel, 52 Pelleve, potter, 167 P'eng Chun Pao, potter, 16 Pennington, Seth, potter, 215 Peony, 53, 79 Pere d'Entrecolles, 11, 32, 33, 37 Perl, Georg, gilder, 128 Persia, 19, 22, 48, 58, 61, 110, 111 Persian porcelain, 7, 110, 111 Peterinck, F. J., potter, 146, 147 Petit feu, 22, 35 Petit, J., potter, 169 Petuntse, 2, 33, 75, 180, 211 Pfalzer, potter, 139 Phoenixes, 47, 51 PhraRoang, 110 Pien chou porcelain, 15 Piercing a jour, 7, 64 Pillement, engraver, 206 Pillows, porcelain, 45, 46 " Pin-holes " in glaze, 213 Pinxton, pottery at, 218, 219 Pirkenhammer, pottery at, 139 Pitt, W., figures of, 193, 205 Place, Francis, potter, 178 Plymouth porcelain, 180, 211, 212, 213, 227 Po ku, 57 Podmore, potter, 202 Pczonia Moutan, 53 Pollard, painter, 221 Pollich, modeller, 123 Pompadour, Mme. de, 154 Pompadour red, 205 Pont aux Choux pottery, 169 Popoff, A., potter, 144 Poppelsdorf, pottery at, 139 Porcelaine d la reine, 168 Porcelain, true and artificial, 2,3 Portici, palace at, 175, 176 Portugal, pottery in, 176 241 GENERAL INDEX Portuguese traders, 60, 85, 112 Poterat, potter, 114, 148 Potter, potter, 150, 169 Potters' names, marks, 64, 70 Preussler, painter, 141 Prunus pattern, 30, 51, 53 Punet, modeller, 123 Pustelli, modeller, 132 Quail pattern, 42 Rakan, 79 Randall, T. M., 156, 221 Rauenstein, pottery at, 136, 137 Reaumur, chemist, 114 Re-decoration, 228 " Regent " porcelain, 208 Reichard, potter, 134 Reid & Co., 215 Reidel, painter, 132 Rhinoceros horn cups, 44, 64 " Rice grain " ornament, 7, 41, 108, 111 Riess, K., modeller, 129 Riley, potter, 224 Ringler, J. J., potter, 130, 131 Ring's End, glass factory at, 226 Rio, dragon, 79 Risampei, potter, 83 Rishi, 92, 95 Rockingham, pottery at, 27, 224, 225, 227 Rococo style, 115, 120, 122, 125, 134, 142, 181, 193 Rokubei, potter, 94, 98 Rokubei Seisai, potter, 98 Robert, J., potter, 166 Robillard, potter, 145 " Robin's egg " glaze, 35 Rome, pottery at, 175 " Rose Dubarry," 154 Rose, John, potter, 208 " Rose Pompadour " colour, 154, 193 Ross, J., engraver, 206 Rotteberg, potter, 136, 137 Rouen porcelain, 114, 148 Roubiliac, sculptor, 193 " Ruby back " plates, 36 Rudolstadt, pottery at, 136, 137 Rue de Bondy pottery, 169 Rue de Crussol pottery, 169 Rue de la Roquette pottery, 168 Rue de Popincourt pottery, 169 Rue de Reuilly pottery, 168 Rue du Petit Carrousel pot- tery, 168 Rue Thiroux pottery, 168 Ruri, 105 Russian porcelain, 144, 145 Russinger, modeller, 129 Russinger, potter, 168 Sacrificial red, 20, 21, 26 Sadler, printer, 215 St. Cloud porcelain, 64, 148, 149, 179, 189, 190 St. Petersburg, pottery at, 144 St. Yrieix, Kaolin of, 155 Saladin, 112 Salopian porcelain, 209 Salzerode, pottery at, 136, 137 San she, 45 San ts'ai, 9, 10, 21 Sanda, potteries at, 107 Sang de boeuf red, 25, 26 Sapphire blue, 39 Satsuma pottery, 73 Sawan-Kalok, potteries at, 110 " Scale-blue," 205, 227, 228 Sceaux, pottery at, 150 Scent-bottles, 123, 155, 191, 194 242 GENERAL INDEX Schadow, modeller, 135 Schubert, modeller, 133 Schlaggenwald, pottery at, 139 Schlegel, painter, 142 Schnorrische weisse Erde, 118 Scholar's implements, Chinese, 45 Scotland, potteries in, 225 Seals, 81 Seal characters, 70 Sei, 98 Seifu, potter, 108 Seifu Yohei, potter, 98 Seiji, 17 Seiji-sha, the, 89 Sepia, colour, 36 Seto porcelain, 104-106 Seto-mono, 104 Seto-suke-yaki, 105 Setsu, potteries at, 97 Seven borders, plates with, 40 Seven gems, 56, 72 Seven Worthies of the Bam- boo Grove, 53 Sevres porcelain, 115, 132, 134, 139, 146, 149-164, 208, 210, 221, 230 Shih Tsung, Emperor, 15 Shore, J., potter, 225 Shorthose & Heath, potters, 224 Shou, 49, 54, 57, 72 Shou Lao, 49, 78 Shozan, potter, 108 Shuhei, potter, 95 Shun-chih period, 24 Siamese porcelain, 110 Silvering, 35 Sizaburo, potter, 97 Slip decoration, 8, 19, 33 " Snake skin " green, 26 Snuff-bottles, 25, 32, 41, 46 Snuff-boxes, 123, 150, 155 Soap-stone, 32, 203 " Soapy rock," 197 Soft paste, 2, 3, 4, 16, 31, 32 152, 153, 155 Solon, M., 6, 156, 224 Sorgenthal, Baron K. von, 128, 129 Sosendo, potter, 105 Souffle glaze, 6, 34 Souroux, potter, 168 Spain, potteries in, 176 Spengler, modeller, 199 Spengler, potter, 145 Sperl, the widow, 139 Spode, potter, 180, 220, 223, 227 " Sprigged " pattern, 190 Sprimont, N., potter, 189, 191, 194 " Spur-marks," 76 Ssu Ch'uan, waterfalls, 58 Staffordshire porcelain, 221 Steatite, 32, 180, 197, 203, 220 Steinkopf, painter, 132 Stephan, modeller, 199 Stephens, W., painter, 213 Stepney, pottery at, 179 Stevenson, Sharpe & Co., 197, 200 Stoke-upon-Trent, 105, 156, 180, 222, 223 Stolzel, S., potter, 128 Stoneware, 2, 73, 83, 101, 117, 200 Stork, 53 Strasburg porcelain, 165, 166, 174 Stratford, pottery at, 179 Sung dynasty, 4, 10, 11, 15, 18,34 Sung-do, potteries at, 110 Suruga basket work, 106 Swansea, pottery at, 210, 218, 219, 220, 227 Svastika, 56, 64, 72 Swedish porcelain, 143 Swinton, pottery near, 224 Swiss porcelain, 145 243 GENERAL INDEX Syntax, Dr., figures of, 199 Tai, fish, 79 Taiko Hideyoshi, 83 Tai-ping rebellion, 43 Tajimi porcelain, 106 Takemoto, potter, 108 T'ang dynasty, 1, 10, 14, 46 T'ang Ying, potter, 36, 42 T'ao Yuan-ming, 53 Taoism, 49, 56 Tao-Kuang period, 42, 46 T'ao-tieh, 31, 49 Ta-yi, pottery at, 15 Tea, 46 " Tea Party," the, 205 Tea-bowls, 77 Tea-clubs, Japanese, 74 Tea-cups, 19, 46 " Tea-dust " glaze, 39 Tea-jar, 77 Tea-pots, 46 Tebo, modeller, 213 Te-hua, 12, 64 Temple of Heaven blue, 44 " Teutschen Blumen," 119 The Hague, pottery at, 146 Thomas, F., potter, 194 Thomason, potter, 196 Three colours, the, 9, 21, 27 Thun-Klosterle, pottery at, 139 Thuringia, potteries in, 135- 137 Ti p'ing, 47 " Tiger skin " glaze, 27 Tin, in glaze, 149 Ting chou, pottery at, 16, 109 Ting yao, 16, 48 To, modeller's signature, 213 Toad, 52 Tokin-ken, 97 Tokio, decorators at, 105-107 Tokugawa badge, 80 Tonda Teikichi, potter, 101 Torksey, pottery at, 219 Tortoise, 53, 79 Tournay porcelain, 146, 147 Transfer-printing, 63,182, 205, 209, 213, 215, 221 Trapnell collection, 214 Treviso, pottery at, 174 Trou, H., potter, 149 Ts'ang Ying-hsiian, potter, 26,27 Ts'ang yao, 26 Ts'ao Kuo-ch'iu, 50 Tschirnhaus, chemist, 117 Tsugi, potter, 89 Tsukabani, potter, 103 Tu, poet, 15 Tu ting, 16 T'ung-chih period, 43 Tunstall, pottery at, 221 " Turken Copgen" 122 Turner, T., engraver, 206, 208, 209 t'zu, 2 Tzuchin glaze, 27, 39, 63, 103, 120 Underglaze colours, 9 Unicorn, 52 Usinger, painter, 130 V, mark, 172 V. and A. Museum, 172, 193, 229, 230 Valenciennes, pottery at, 170 Vanloo, 154 Venice, potteries at, 114, 171, 172 Vermonet, potter, 170 Verneuille, potter, 169 Vestris, Madame, 200 Vezzi, F., potter, 172 Vicenza clay, 172 Vienna porcelain, 128, 129, 132 Vincennes porcelain, 151-153, 165, 170 Vinovo, pottery at, 174, 177 244 GENERAL INDEX Virgin, the, 12, 51 Vista Alegre, pottery at, 177 VL, mark, 170 Volkstedt, pottery at, 136 Volpato, G., potter, 175 VV, mark, 169 Wackenfeld, potter, 165 Wagenar, Sieur, 85 Wakasugi, pottery at, 101 Walker, S., potter, 210, 219 Wall, Dr., potter, 202, 228 Wallendorf, pottery at, 136, 137 Wan-li period, 21, 35, 46 Wandhelein, C., potter, 173 Watteau, 121, 123, 181, 191, 204, 206 Wazen, potter, 97, 102 Weatherby, potter, 184 Wedgwood, 136, 155, 176, 188, 213, 224 Weesp, pottery at, 145 Wegeli, W. C., 134 Whitehaven, pottery at, 225 Willman, painter, 205 Willow pattern, 54, 209 Wilkes, John, figure of, 62, 193 Wirksworth, pottery at, 219 Withers, painter, 198 Wohlfahrt, painter, 130 Woodward, figure of, 186 Worcester Museum, 230 Worcester porcelain, 63, 179, 180, 182, 187, 188, 202, 212, 215, 216, 217, 219, 225, 227-229 " Wreathing," 211 Wu Kung, 44 Wu San-kuei, rebellion of, 25 W u she, 47 Wuts'ai, 10,21,28 Yaki, 86 Yamashiro Mura, pottery at, 102 Yang ts'ai, 35 Yao, 86 Yao pien, 8 Yebis, God of Daily Bread, 78 Yedo, see Tokio Yellow colour, 20, 44, 198, 205, 218 Ying ts'ai, 35 Yin-yang, 55, 72 York House, Battersea, 187 Yoshida Danemon, 102 Young, W. W., painter, 219, 220, 221 Yu, 72 Yu, 70 Yuan dynasty, 9, 11, 18, 46, 48 Yujiro, potter, 101 Yung-cheng period, 14, 18, 34-36, 46, 108 Yung-lo period, 19, 23, 95, 96, 109 Zengoro Hozen, 81, 97 Zeschinger, painter, 133 Zoroku, potter, 98 Zoshun, pottery at, 88 Zurich porcelain, 145 Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. 245 <*> m 1 •s o o g 4- O fe . p fl CD o ^ 10 O o ^ jA3 QQ ^S University of Toronto Library DO NOT REMOVE THE CARD FROM THIS POCKET Acme Library Card Pocket LOWE-MARTIN CO. LIMITED